Degeneration, hygienist doctrines, and nationalism. A thematic tour with Daniel Gasol
A*DESK and GRAF present thematic routes centered on critical reflection regarding content from the A*DESK magazine repository, interpreted by a specialist—such as a historian, artist, curator, or critic—and linked to the local territory. These in-person routes encompass both sites associated with the GRAF community and various other locations—whether cultural or otherwise, and of either public or private nature—that reinforce the artistic discourse and proposal. They also offer the unique opportunity to visit specific places that are typically closed to the public or otherwise difficult to access.
Degeneration, hygienist doctrines, and nationalism
A route created and led by the artist and researcher Daniel Gasol
When Christian grammar was secularized into science, medicine, and nationalism, it found a form of continuity in hygienism. Thus, the body became something expected to work, reproduce, and obey; meanwhile, cleaning a street, classifying a race, correcting a sexuality, or pathologizing a strike all served the dictates of so-called Progress. Yet, wherever such doctrines were imposed, there also emerged practices that defied them—transforming streets, parks, and public restrooms into spaces for encounter.
🗓️ November 28, at 11 am.
📍 Meeting point: Centre Cívic Sagrada Família
Free with prior registration here
Walking route, suitable for everyone.
This route stems from the intersection between the spaces of GRAF and the A*DESK text repository; it is conceived as a continuation of the articles published as part of Abolishing Naivety, the month during which Daniel Gasol served as guest editor.
About Daniel Gasol
Daniel G., an artist who holds a PhD from the University of Barcelona (2015), interrogates dominant discourses—constructed by established power structures—surrounding identity, labor, class, and consumption, which transform various forms of fiction and/or reality. His practice began by combining research with artistic production, exploring the mechanisms that constitute hegemonic narratives. Since 2016, he has been awarded several grants and fellowships, including the P. Juncosa Education Grant (Mallorca, 2016), the Inter. ETAC Grant (Mallorca, 2016), the Casa Elizalde/UNZIP Visual Arts Grant (El Prat de Llobregat, 2017), the Sala d’Art Jove Education Grant (2018), and the La Escocesa Artistic Experimentation and Research Grant (2019). He was also a member of the “Asimetries” research group at Fabra i Coats (Idensitat, Barcelona, 2018–19). Since 2018, he has developed the design and content for projects within the Interseccions Arts Visuals program (El Prat de Llobregat City Council) and the Public Programs at the La Capella Art Center in Barcelona. As of 2023, he directs EART (E:\ART)—a center for mediation, education, and contemporary art—spearheading its ongoing transformation.
In 2021–22, he published “Arte (in)útil: Sobre cómo el capitalismo desactiva la cultura” (“(U)seless Art: On How Capitalism Deactivates Culture”) with the publisher Rayo Verde; the book originated from his doctoral thesis. During the same period, he presented “Orden Público: Vagos, Maleantes y Peligrosidad Social” (“Public Order: Vagrants, Miscreants, and Social Danger”) at the Chiquita Room gallery—a project that involved the “smuggling” of official files from the National Justice Archive of Catalonia into the exhibition space. In 2024, he published “Historia no oficial durante la hipotética Transición” (“Unofficial History During the Hypothetical Transition”) with the publisher Rayo Verde, and developed “Higiene Pública: la sociedad como cuerpo enfermo” (“Public Hygiene: Society as a Sick Body”)—presented at La Nau (University of Valencia) and Galería ADN—which explores the genealogy of hygienism and the criminalization of dissent. He recently completed a residency at the Academia de España in Rome, where he developed the project “Los oficiales de la noche” (“The Officers of the Night”).
