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For this new issue of Letter from… column, we asked toonpool.com artist Alex Gumà Bondía about his life and begged for some photographs of his working place and the city he lives in – Barcelona, 12th-most-visited city in the world. Some say one’s had too much coffee when the eyes stay open when sneezeing. Alex is a huge fan of Jaws, he loves to play piano as much as he loves a piano-size cup of coffe.

1.What was your dream last night?

Honestly, I don’t remember. But I will explain a repetitive dream: I’m walking across the field in the middle of a dark, starry night. Far away I distinguish a white wood ladder. Curious, I approach … The ladder rises from the wet grass to up beyond my sight. Impatient, I decide to climb as high as possible. As I gain altitude I feel a deep release. I look down and smile. The steps, down there get lost in an infinite point, and I keep climbing higher and higher …Then the calm sensation is brutally cut off by the alarm clock.

2. Next plans or ideas?

I usually have many pending projects. I’m seriously considering an entirely personal book. A work which reflects actions, scenes of daily life by my own point of view.

I am interested in portraying adrift and loneliness in my immediate surroundings. The idea is to allow each drawing to speak for itself, closer to a suggestive look than a straight message… Probably I’ll use black and white, excellent for focusing attention on the essentials, isolating the superfluous. Also sculpting, sculpting and…let me see….yes, sculpting!

3. Your food today?

Mediterranean salad (lettuce, olives, tuna, onion and peppers), seasoned with vinegar of Modena some “pa amb tomaquet” (rubbed tomato on bread slices), an omelet and one or a couple of apples. All this sealed tasting a wonderful, creamy italian ristretto.

4. Do you like your place or would you like to live somewhere else?

I feel deep sympathy and devotion to London, I consider it my second home. I lived wonderful experiences there and believe it’s an extraordinary and cosmopolitan open city.

Obviously ( perhaps not so obvious) I love Barcelona, it’s my hometown. Anyway I think this city is mired in a serious condition called excessive self-promotion… the uncontrolled desire to reach the top of modernity , from Europe to the world…

In my opinion, this is precisely what makes it unattractive. A city promotes itself with the effort, charm and hospitality of the people. We risk to become just a trademark. (If we are not already)

5. What was the huge mistake in your life you (unfortunately) never did?

Ha, ha ! It’s a trick question … Mistakes are not usually planned, are consequence of wrongly elaborated planning… also by the inability to plan anything. I would like to quote here the English poet Lord Byron : “I regret all sins I have not committed in the past”.

6. Who are your neighbors?

My next door neighbor is unbearable… That kind of people who smiles while sticking a knife in your own back. I don’t like her but I’ve learned to ignore her presence everywhere. Still can’t stand the smell of fried fish that expands through the whole staircase… I would suggest someone to give her a kitchen hud or change her eating habits by eating canned food…

7. Tell me the shortest joke you know

Mmmmmm…..Sorry, I have very poor memory for jokes…

8. Tell me the biggest prank you did on a friend.

Childish memories … I had a friend who was truly a Star Wars fan. I wrote him a letter signed it as it were from George Lucas himself and put it into his mailbox. Next day he came to my house and spoke to me deeply moved. I felt bad and had to reveal the truth …

9. How to ruin your vacation?

By “stealing” it from me!!

10. In 1977 NASA has sent orbiters Voyager 1 and 2 into space which will never stop to fly through the universe by gravity. They contain the Voyager Golden Records with many testimonials of the whole mankind, greetings in 55 languages introduced by US president Jimmy Carter (“This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings….”). The Golden Records with a lifespan of 500 million years at least are including drawings of a naked man and woman, detailed genitalia, many scientific graphics, sounds of planet earth and music by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart – and Chuck Berry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3haYAbqKjA

Maybe aliens out there will be shocked in some million years! But in case such a NASA mission will be replayed: which (1) of your artworks should join it?

Honestly, I have no idea. Probably I would take a sheet of paper and print my fingerprints on it …Something simple and revealing, honest and human.

11. Please give us an answer to a question we didn’t ask!

I’ll answer you equally asking: How could you forget to ask me about that…?

Credits to Nicoleta Ionescu for talking with Alex Gumà Bondía

© toonpool.com

Tags: Alex Gumà Bondía, artist, barcelona, Community, Interview, letter from, toonpool.com

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