Not the water that flows away, but the water that returns

The artist Luis Lecea proposes an experience of expanded sensory perception that connects the Cautín River in Chile to Madrid’s old network of underground aqueducts. Like reading lines on an open palm, the activity traces these hidden routes by means of recordings that articulate an audible multi-channel pulse as it moves upstream. Bone-conduction transducers convey vibrations that carry perception past the ear to other forms of sensory input, inviting a tactile mode of listening that explores the transformation of a water flow from a relational body into a claimable resource.

Luis Lecea Romera is an artist, composer, and researcher who divides his time between Amsterdam and Madrid. In his practice, he manipulates material and auditory spaces by means of installations, compositions, and performances. Using field recordings, archival audio, and speculative instrument construction, his art explores the affective and narrative capabilities of vibration and resonance in bodies, architectures, and landscapes. His work has been presented at Arti et Amicitiae (Amsterdam, NL), Sala de Arte Joven (Madrid, ES), CC Can Felipa (Barcelona, ES), SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin, DE), gnration (Braga, PT), and Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (Tenerife, ES), among other venues. He is currently conducting his doctoral research at Leiden University’s Sound Studies Center in the Netherlands with the support of a fellowship from the “la Caixa” Foundation.