Anna Recasens

October 2025-April 2026 Creative In the Wilderness

“...at that moment, all spaces change, all heights, distances; the city is transfigured, becoming crystalline, transparent as a dragonfly.”  Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

Since 2005 I have been investigating the use of public space for intimate purposes, differentiating various uses for love and sexual practices. With this, I refer to appropriations in which urban space is used or temporarily modified to announce, accommodate, shelter or hide intimate interactions and experiences regarding life and death.

Desde 2005 investigo el uso del espacio público con fines íntimos diferenciando diversos usos relacionados con el amor y las prácticas sexuales. Me refiero a apropiaciones del espacio urbano en las que éste es utilizado o modificado temporalmente para anunciar, alojar, cobijar u ocultar interacciones y experiencias íntimas relacionadas con la vida y la muerte.

ARQUITECTURA SENSIBLE/LOVE WALLS is an ongoing investigation which invites viewers to recognise the process of communication which begins with love messages found on the streets, establishing a relationship with passing readers. These messages act as an element involved in the construction of the social space looking to bring about a more humane city. I have collected hundreds of love messages found in the streets, as well as other affective expressions of love, disappointment, thanks, mourning, among others. These are elements shaping subtle landscapes of love and death which are understood by a community, or universally creating a layer of urban loveability that surfaces no matter what, and which persists in time.

ARQUITECTURA SENSIBLE/LOVE WALLS es una investigación en curso que invita a los espectadores a reconocer el proceso de comunicación que se inicia con mensajes de amor encontrados en la calle, estableciendo una relación con los lectores que pasan por allí. Estos mensajes actúan como un elemento que participa en la construcción del espacio social para una ciudad más humana. He recopilado cientos de mensajes de amor encontrados en las calles, así como otras expresiones afectivas de amor, decepción, agradecimiento, duelo, entre otros. Estos elementos conforman paisajes de amor y muerte que son entendidos por una comunidad, o universalmente, creando una capa de amorabilidad urbana que aflora sin importar nada y que persiste en el tiempo.

All images in gallery above courtesy of Anna Recasens

Anna Recasens / Related links: Website / Instagram / Instagram Mira por Donde / On Art and Friendship

Anna Recasens is a visual artist, researcher and cultural manager who combines her personal and collective artistic proposals with research and cultural revitalization intiatives. Her projects center around art, nature, urban issues, and social space. She also teaches workshops, publishes articles, and participates in forums related to these subjects. Recasens’ individual and collaborative work has been presented internationally in residencies and exhibitions. Between 2012 and 2017, she founded and directed the Laboratori Social Metropolità, based in the NauEstruch, Sabadell, Catalonia. Recasens is part of and collaborates with art programs and platforms such as Idensitat and Plataforma Vértices. www.annarecasens.org