"No habrá servicio los domingos ni en el cumpleaños de la Reina Victoria" is an installation composed by samples of my investigation in an old mining complex in southern Spain. The analog and digital elements interact and influence each other in uncontrolled and sensory detached ways.
This project delves into the history of an old open-pit mine in Southern Spain. After its nearly more than 5000 years of activity, digging the soil, cutting up the forests, exposing the minerals to the top and flattening the landscape, some kind of alien territory has been produced. Precisely, during the 19th century, the top of the mountain was mined away under the leadership of one of the biggest mining companies in the world: The Rio Tinto Company Limited. Filled the cavities by layers of superstitions, Rio Tinto was involved in worker strikes, natural catastrophes and post-colonial processes.
This is an installative video-game-based project, half-documentary, half-fantastic and developed for Virtual reality glasses, the HTC Vive, allowing the player to move on a 3D Scan-based landscape. In the installation we have a couple of stones or other elements related to the mine. The interaction with those objects in the real world will have a repercussion in the game field and the other way around.
This project was possible thanks to loads of people whiling to help. I want to mention here two characters appearing in the video game: Rafael Mayorga and Pablo Fernández. Many thanks also to La Fundación y el Museo Minero de Rio Tinto and to Aquilino Delgado and Paco Alcázar, a priceless source of information and help.