El 92 cava con todo: a crossfade of audiovisual art and electronic music
Los Voluble presents El 92 cava con todo, a project that blends audiovisual elements with electronic music while inviting readers to reflect on how this year influenced the cultural, social, and political landscape of the country.
Footage captures conversations on a screen inside a prison, alongside images of public spaces and political figures. The scene includes disinfection of parks and politicians who forgo masks. Flamenco guitarist Sabicas is quoted, saying that every guitarist has value and that there are no bad players. In performance, Raúl Cantizano builds on guitar, piano, and crafted sound to fuse rhythmic repetition with novel sonorities. The piece, alongside others, is presented as part of a program mounted at the Madrid Flamenco Festival, notably on the stages of the Conde Duque Center for Contemporary Culture.
Two brothers from Seville, Pedro and Benito Jiménez, have been blending flamenco, electronics, humor, social critique, and an audiovisual archive since 1996. They view art as a vehicle for movement, inquiry, cultural reflection, and art for art’s sake. “Art should move people and provoke thought,” Pedro explains. They premiere this Friday in Madrid with El 92 cava con todo, presenting a visually and sonically dense experience that invites contemplation of Spain in 1992. A segment from the Reina Sofía Museum’s collection, curated by José Luis Espejo and titled Device 92, is referenced as a backdrop. The idea is to remix music and footage from that era to probe conversations, decisions, and conversations that followed. The project even recalls the Seville Expo moment when an iceberg was displayed in the Chilean Pavilion, an act that touches on colonial histories and climate concerns as a rotting land piece. The intention is to reveal contradictions through image and sound. The work has been staged at the Seville Fair but is touring across Spain, including Curro. The duo has also collaborated with corporate campaigns, such as promoting a Barcelona holding project that portrays orchards being turned into roads and protests being silenced. [Citation: Los Voluble press materials]
Flamenco as a form of study
Within El 92 cava con todo, flamenco is examined through a lens of experimentation. The duo meets with Elche’s circle and works with artists who first played guitar at notable festivals such as Sónar. The genesis of their work traces back to El Viso del Alcor in Seville, a place that fostered Zemos98, a hub for experimental creation. Today it operates as a cooperative focused on social and cultural mediation.
In 2012, an artistic residence titled Electro-flamenco Dialogues sought to establish collaborative working methods. Participants, including Rocío Márquez and Juan Carlos Lerida, helped shape performances that later appeared in more formal settings. Niño de Elche’s Raverdial project, which fused verdiales from Málaga with flamenco’s core spirit, arose in this milieu, reflecting a spirit of experimentation and critical reception. Improvisation and collective creation remain the starting points for the group’s practice, with archives and process shaping what is heard as much as the final piece. They emphasize that flamenco is not just sound but a conversation about who is speaking and what is being said about flamenco itself.
Raúl Cantizano, the guitarist and co-creator of Cordoned Off Area, embodies this through alegrias, a key Cádiz-based style rooted in jota. He notes that flamenco is inherently remix-driven, shaped by cross-pollination and openness to other influences. “If I love Sabicas’ touch and the textures of Frank Zappa or John Cage, I will work with them because they live on my skin,” he explains. The exchange with different traditions is seen as essential to the living art form.
Intangible heritage
The project challenges strict ideas of flamenco purity, a debate often marked by arguments about canon and authenticity. Critics argue that canons, shaped by commercial interests and recording practices, can deter genuine creative voices. Pedro Jiménez contends that such canons are a later development, reinforced by economic incentives, and that archiving sound alone cannot preserve flamenco. The conversation extends to UNESCO’s intangible heritage status, stressing that creative archiving is only one of many ways to honor the tradition.
Jiménez argues for free creation and cooperative models as part of a broader shift away from capitalist modes of cultural consumption. He notes that after the pandemic, a critical examination of cultural consumption was crucial. Alternatives exist in cooperative markets and solidarity gardens, yet cultural life often defaults to streaming and hits. The team advocates for shared spaces where culture can be cultivated and circulated beyond the dominant platforms. The quarantine era gave rise to Cordoned Off Area, a performance born in confinement that reflected on cultural shifts and the new normal, with an emphasis on play, experimentation, and improvisation beyond conventional limits.
References to Antonio Mairena, Pepe Marchena, John Cage, and Val del Omar anchor the conversation as Cantizano describes flamenco as a mutable, evolving practice. He likens a guitar to a piece of furniture with multiple drawers—each drawer representing a different approach, yet leaving the same core options accessible. The aim is to welcome influences from Sabicas, Frank Zappa, and Cage alike, blurring boundaries to allow diverse sonic textures to coexist on one stage.
Flamenco templars
Pedro Jiménez uses the term flamenco templars to critique critics who dismiss any proposal that challenges the canon. He argues that gatekeeping hinders creative development and the ability of artists to explore new directions. The group maintains that their work is honest and not designed to please everyone; it seeks to bring new sounds and images to varied audiences, creating spaces where different voices can be heard. The same vigilance applies to electronics, where some promoters resist experimentation and critical stances on cultural policy. Jiménez criticizes the expectation of hedonistic content, calling for a broader, more reflective approach to music and culture.
While live performances continue to grow, the duo is looking ahead to the Bienal Flamenca de Sevilla in September, where Jaleo Is a Crime and Flamenco Is Not a Crime—pieces created for the 2019 Nîmes Flamenco Festival—will be presented. Jiménez explains how these collaborations expand the repertoire and invite new interpretations. The current phase brings Alameda Theatre in Seville into focus for a September 16 presentation, where the idea of jaleos as a collective, anonymous force is celebrated, reinforcing flamenco as a laboratory that interrogates contemporary culture, current events, and audiovisual archives.
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