Together with visual artist Laia Estruch, we will participate with AÜC, a creative and experimental project at the intersection of sculpture and performance that explores how to archive the memory of a live action. From February 6 to 8, at the Oliva Artés (Barcelona History Museum).
Barcelona lights up again with Llum BCN 2026, the festival of light, art and technology that transforms public space and turns the city into a great nighttime laboratory.
At Benito Urban, we are especially excited to announce that we will be participating once again in the festival with AÜC , a project by Laia Estruch in collaboration with Benito Urban, which opens an investigation around a fascinating question: how can the memory of a performative action be archived?
This year's edition also comes with a significant new feature: Llum BCN is expanding beyond Poblenou , with an intervention point in each of Barcelona's districts , as part of Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture . This expansion was recently presented at a press conference at the ICUB headquarters with Xavier Marcé, Councilor for Culture and Cultural Industries, and Maria Güell, the festival's artistic director. (cover image)
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN LIGHT, BODY AND MEMORY
AÜC explores the trace left by a body when performing live and the records it generates. The proposal is structured around the idea of creating a “ 4D hologram ”: a weightless sculpture made of light, a body of light that emerges and circulates through space under conditions similar to those of sound or voice.
The intervention seeks to move through weightlessness, through that which is difficult to retain: bringing the human body closer to the airy body of the voice and turning the memory of the action into presence, without a screen, passing through air and light.
REFERENCES: FROM CONTEMPORARY ART TO STAGE ILLUSION
The project investigates the possibilities of recording performance linked to the earthly and aerial qualities of the human voice, and draws on references such as Simone Forti's holograms and the Pepper's Ghost theatrical illusion technique, a stage resource that allows the appearance and disappearance of figures through the reflection of an image on a reflective surface.
From this dialogue between art, stage and technology, AÜC proposes a device that makes it possible for that “ body of light ” to appear in the darkness as a moving volume, generating an immersive experience that invites us to rethink the relationship between presence, perception and memory.
WHERE TO SEE AÜC AT LLUM BCN 2026
The project can be visited at Oliva Artés, a space with an identity closely linked to the city and cultural experimentation, which becomes the ideal setting for a piece where light, body and recording intersect.
📅 Friday and Saturday (February 6 and 7): 7:00 PM–12:00 AM
📅 Sunday (February 8): 7:00 PM–11:00 PM
📍 Oliva Artés (Barcelona History Museum)