Turbina Studio
The perception of time and space through sculptural Art Pieces
WORDS Michelle Laver
As partners in life and work, Mateo Fumero and Minerva Castro-Capdevila run an ever-evolving art and design studio based in Barcelona named Turbina. The couple aims to explore the perception of time and space through sculptural works by breathing new life into stone, clay, and brass materials to create brutal sculptural objects.
"The idea of permanence contained in some materials is directly related to the way human beings deal with the concept of time. Time is an elusive and challenging concept to understand, but simultaneously, we use it every day. What then is time?"
The Clock series
Mateo and Minerva have extensive knowledge of the creative world. Since they can remember, they have been interested in art.
"Turbina does not arise in a calculated way, but from our experiences," explains the couple. "It is a way of living and understanding things. The border between personal and working life is blurred and links the artistic world with our romantic relationship."
Regarding their working process, collaborating on the projects enriches the artists to find synergies and possibilities of working as a duo. "The close communication between us about such subtle concepts is the key because we have to write down, draw, and explain very abstract things to each other," they describe.
After immersing themselves in the moment of a project, they then apply a method to reproduce favourable conditions to generate ideas, relating shapes and materials with sensations. Yet when choosing the materials they use, they do so through experimentation.
From their experimentation work, they discovered a new process on existing material. Based on an alpha gypsum formula, the couple found an organic process that makes unpredictable results, leaving holes and imperfections on the piece.
One of their favourite projects that brought them together is TRBN 19/14 PENDULUM CLOCK. The idea behind the crafted pendulum is that the clock places us in an ever-lasting present through a slow oscillation.
Described as a ‘kinetic wall sculpture’, the materials were made by an organic reaction on marble cast. The couple carved each piece in unique stone shapes and colours before adding a natural rubber cover to its finish. A battery then powers the subtle pendulum to create a slow and back and forth tick with no hours, minutes, or seconds.
The couple takes their inspiration from a series of observations they find within a true multiverse. From concepts relating to the universe like space, orbits and planets to the continuous search of the human being, like rituals, symbols, primitive gestures and antiquity – these are just some theories the couple falls in love with time and time again.
“We feel so lucky to have the possibility of working on our passion. We forget that the entire solar system, including the Earth, moves through the cosmic background at about 370 miles per second for a trillion miles per day. Quite a miracle.”