Exhibitions
Sokrates, the chamber of wonders of Sa Bassa Blanca
A space for art, contemplation and dialogue in Alcúdia where works from different eras and cultures coexist with 'Juke Blue', the installation by James Turrell.
At the Sa Bassa Blanca estate, in Alcúdia, art is presented in a way that defies usual classifications. Among the rooms of the Sa Bassa Blanca Museum, the Sala Sokrates offers an experience in which the works are not organized according to chronology or geographical origin, but rather based on the connections that can be established between them.
The space is conceived as a Gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art that functions as a contemporary chamber of wonders. Here, the interest lies not so much in the accumulation of objects as in the relationship that is established between each of the elements that form part of the whole. Paintings, sculptures, objects and pieces from different origins share the same stage and build an experience conceived as a unit.
The history of the project is closely linked to the Yannick and Ben Jakober Foundation, created in 1993 on the initiative of artists and collectors Yannick Vu and Ben Jakober, together with philanthropist Georges Coulon Karlweis. That same year, an old underground cistern on the Sa Bassa Blanca estate was rehabilitated to house a unique collection of children's portraits dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, known as the Nins Collection.
Over time, this cultural project has expanded its perspectives and has turned Sa Bassa Blanca into a space where contemporary creation dialogues with works and objects from different moments in history.
In Sokrates, the pieces do not follow a timeline or respond to a strict classification by culture or territory. The criterion is more intuitive and associative: shapes, materials, colors, gestures and concepts establish bridges between apparently distant works. This arrangement generates an open narrative in which each piece can lead to another. A sculpture can find its counterpoint in an object from a distant culture, while a shape or a texture can act as a nexus between creations separated by centuries.
The result is a journey that invites the visitor to look calmly and build their own connections. The works relate, reflect and also enter into tension, creating a visual plot that combines aesthetic and symbolic dimensions.
Sokrates proposes an experience based on active contemplation, associative thinking and discovery. The visitor ceases to be a simple spectator and becomes part of a space that celebrates the diversity of cultures and artistic forms as a possible expression of unity.
One of the great attractions of the space is the presence of Juke Blue , by the American artist James Turrell, installed in the Espai Sokrates since spring 2017. The work is integrated into this particular museum universe and reinforces one of the fundamental ideas of the project: the capacity of art to transform the perception of space and alter the way the visitor observes and experiences the world.
Turrell, one of the most recognized figures in international contemporary art, has dedicated much of his career to investigating light, color and perception. In the case of 'Juke Blue', this research translates into an immersive experience that invites you to abandon the quick glance and enter a state of contemplation.
The installation thus offers a break within the tour and places the visitor before an experience in which light ceases to be simply an element of architecture to acquire a presence of its own.
The uniqueness of Sokrates lies precisely in this ability to combine pieces, eras and sensibilities without the need to impose a single interpretation. The space functions as an organism in which each element has meaning in relation to the others.
In this context, the Sa Bassa Blanca Museum expands its status as a museum to also become a territory of contemplation and discovery, where art is perceived through the relationships established by the works and the particular gaze of each visitor.
You may be
interested
...
