The urban regeneration of the industrial area of Zorrotzaurre, in Bilbao, has led to the recent relocation of the VICINAY chain factory after more than 60 years of operation. This factory, which produced marine chains and defined the urban landscape of the area, has made nearly
10,000 km of chain (the equivalent of the distance between the cities of Bilbao and Beijing), link by link. This has played a decisive role in shaping the territory and the economic development of the region, generating wealth for four generations of families and creating a bond with society. This work is a gesture, a transmission of that legacy of years of production, creation, and social impact. A presentation that, through absence, makes us reflect on the importance this production center has had in shaping its own emotional landscape: “The Memory of the Place.” The aim is to activate memory through the space and the actions that have taken place there over the years, imprinting the factory’s installations with the sublimation of the forms it has lived with. The works resulting from this project restore the connection between the factory and society, visible in the deformations and wrinkles caused by the dragging of thousands of tons of chains across the original steel floors of the plant over more than sixty years, serving as a metaphor for its activity.
“Image as a trace – the trace as an image.”