Ancient words for new works

Federica Andreoni

A text for BULLENBEISSER, Julia Huete

Ephemĕrus is a Greek word, made up of epi (ἐπί),

“during”, and hemera (ἡμέρα), “day”. Ephemeral is something that

lasts a day, or, more broadly, something that has a

limited duration.

In a way, ephemeral is the architecture that Julia Huete calls soft: the dresses of the city, the fabrics used outside the city. Fabric does not have its own fixed form, unlike any other material used in architectural construction. Fabric needs a structure from which it takes its shape and to which it adapts; the shape of fabric is ephemeral. The textiles used in Julia's works were, at one time, devices for generating shade, a function they have now lost, but from which they still carry some information: stains, marks, fading.

The existence of the Bullenbeisser, the breed of dog that gives the exhibition its title, was also ephemeral. Despite its great success, it became extinct in the early 20th century and no longer exists.

To reiterate is literally to repeat the repetition. Iterate,

in itself, is a Latin verb meaning to repeat; the prefix

re- multiplies and intensifies an already existing repetition.

Reproduction is, curiously, the reason why the Bullenbeisser became extinct. Its genetic heritage was not lost due to a lack of transmission; on the contrary, it was lost through dilution as a result of extensive breeding. The breed served as the basis for many other variants, but ceased to exist as its own identity and is now irretrievable.

Similarly, reproduction, or mass production, is a fundamental characteristic of this proposal. On the one hand, there are twenty-one volumes—cardboard structures covered with reused fabrics—that are identical or nearly so, occupying the gallery space at regular intervals; on the other hand, the exhibition is complemented by a limited edition silkscreen print of the opening poster, designed by the artist.

Julia Huete's reproductions leave us, in any case, uncertain as to whether the act of reiteration intensifies or weakens, strengthens or dilutes, propagates or extinguishes.

Exigĕre is a Latin verb composed of ex,

“outwards”, and agĕre, “to move, to push”.

Originally, it meant to move or push out,

to remove from a group, and later it came to mean to weigh,

measure or adjust scrupulously, from which, in the long run,

it also derived the meaning of demanding with absolute precision.

The modern words exigente (demanding), exacto (exact) and exiguo (meagre)

come from this verb.

Precise – well weighed and determined – is the shape of the volumes and the way they occupy space: twenty-one straight quadrangular prisms and an irregular polyhedron whose base, height and width measurements, distance from the ground and distance between them, are the result of a careful process that combines composition, discovery and intuition.

Exiguous – measured and limited, reduced – is the use of colour; barely a dialogue between two shades, green and white, which compose a minimal but nonetheless intense conversation.

Demanding – pushing and moving to get out – is the approach with which the artist tackles her creative work, patiently and intently, with great rigour and without making concessions.

Exagium is a Latin word that also comes

from exigĕr, meaning “weight”; in fact, an

exagium solidi was the term used to indicate

monetary weights in the Roman Empire between the

4th and 5th centuries, which were used to check and

verify the weight of coins. Exagium derives

from ensayo, which indirectly, therefore,

also derives from exigĕre.

An essay is therefore an act of measurement: a process that weighs, measures and balances. The plastic essay presented by Julia is a collection of works in which she experiments and exposes, with great care, weighing and measuring, a convergence of recurring concerns and predilections in her career.

Among these, we recognise the tension and presence of the line, which in this case appears on the edges of the volumes, as if they were almost drawn sculptures, and which represents a constant in Julia Huete's work, regardless of the technique.

Also noteworthy is the use of textiles, which often accompany her work and not only define the materiality of the pieces, but also influence their very identity, with their range of possibilities and limitations.

Likewise, the works continue to tell us about an investigation into abstraction, which, from comics to painting, is the basis of a body of work that reduces, condenses and synthesises.

This visual essay by Julia Huete tells us stories of carefully measured, repeated forms that were once something different and may perhaps become extinct.

* BULLENBEISSER, a visual investigation based on the Le Beau Monde project developed within the framework of the 2025 Semester Residencies for visual artists at the Matadero Madrid Artistic Residencies Centre.