The Catalan artist Marcel.li Antunez Roca was hosted in residence at the Cité international universitaire de Paris (CIUP) from 13th to 18th of September, 2011.

He animated an artistic workshop of experimentation, gathering about ten participants

The objective was to associate the participants in the process of artistic creation, to raise their awareness on new artistic forms related to mobile technologies and  new forms of narration.

The artistic project imagined by Marcel.li for this residence was inspired by the Spanish traditional iconography, in particular by Fallas of Valence: at the time of these popular events, paste board puppets, painted colors sharp, comic or burlesques, are set up in all the city, and then burnt.

Marcel.Li Antúnez Roca worked on the territory of the CIUP. He choose to work on 4 houses (Cambodia, Biermans Lapôtre, Arménia and Mexico). A puppet was created for each of them, representative of imaginative and symbolic system of their countries. The story of the movie will then be built around these puppets, animated by actors. These transitory artistic creations were then burnt, according to the tradition of Fallas. An interactive movie was realised, and presented during the SmartCity evening on the 23rd of September.

Territory of action: South of Paris, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, Arcueil, Gentilly



Marcel.lí Antúnez Roca, born in Moià (Spain) in 1959, is internationally known for its mecatronic performances and its robot-like installations. Its work was presented in many festivals, galleries, museums and theatres all over the world, such as la Villette in Paris, the ICA in London, the FILE in Sao Paulo, the DAF in Tokyo, the Farming DOM Centre in Moscow, the DEAF in Rotterdam, the Festival Ars Electronica in Linz, Performing Arts in Seoul… Since the years 80s, its work shows a constant concern for the human condition, concentrating on the way in which the desires and the emotions are justified and expressed.

Works of Marcel.lí Antúnez Roca became gradually more and more complex and become often unclassifiable hybrids. Since the beginning of the 90s, the artist incorporates in his works scientific and technological elements, diverts and interprets them in single devices. Expressing himself on the traditional topics such as the feelings, the identity, the eschatology and death, Marcel.lí Antúnez Roca creates a very original cosmogony, at the same time hot and commonplace: the artist manages to give a human and ironic dimension to his mecatronic devices, generally causing very spontaneous reactions of his spectators…