Electric Pilgrimage

Despite being crucial for our society, most of the infrastructures needed to maintain a flow of continuous production and distribution of energy are unknown, almost invisible to most of their users. Far from being considered sacred spaces with their own rituals, like the Temple of Vesta, contemporary fire temples are mostly hostile, hermetic and inaccessible places, little integrated into the social imaginary, which makes any possibility of direct dialogue with society difficult that nurture However, despite the precariousness of society’s physical and imaginary link with the fire that sustains it, there is still a blind, sacred faith in energy institutions.

According to a study published by the University of Stockholm in 2011, a pilgrim visits a holy place with the aim of confirming his beliefs through the physical manifestations of his faith, collective enthusiasm and connection personal with the space. Joana Moll presents the Fundació Suñol with an altar in honor of the Central Térmica del Besòs, the temple that energetically sustains the Fundació Suñol and with the collaboration of the artist Mario Santamaría proposes a pilgrimage, with a final offering, for the infrastructures electrics of the city of Barcelona on November 26, with the intention of establishing new links between society and contemporary fire, while making visible and interacting with the systems that contain it. In the context of the current climate emergency and energy crisis, experiencing and elaborating new cultural rituals capable of interpellating these realities in a coherent manner is a critical exercise to adapt and organize human activities around these emerging paradigms, for in order to avoid (or soften) possible collapses.

Author: Joana Moll

Pilgrimage design: Mario Santamaría

Production: Marta Millet Agustí

Summary of the guided pilgrimage to the Barcelona thermal power plant by Mario Santamaría and Joana Moll on November 26, 2022.

The main objective of this pilgrimage was to bring an offering, in the form of electricity, to the Besòs V thermal power plant, the source of energy that feeds the Fundació Suñol. The pilgrimage left the gallery, passing through critical points of Barcelona’s energy infrastructure, until it reached the Besòs V thermal power plant, located at the mouth of the Besòs.

Technical data:
Walking distance: 13.3 km.
Average steps: 28,000
Average number of participants: 20
Feet Number: 40
Hours walked: 4
Power generated per foot: 10 w/h

Total energy generated: 1600 w/h*
* Equivalent energy to charge 95 latest generation iPhones.

Stops:
Stop 00 — Fundació Suñol
Stop 01 — Facultats electrical substation
Stop 02 — Valldonzella street electrical substation
Stop 03 — Central Catalana d’Electricitat
Stop 04 — Avenida Diagonal, 2X, 08018 Barcelona
Stop 05 — TERSA – Municipal incinerator
Stop 06 — Besòs V thermal power plant

Photographic report: Santi Periel