As part of our 2010 project MOT International will present Castillos de arena (Sandcastles), 2009, a film by the Spanish artist Diego Santomé.

Diego Santomé is a multidisciplinary artist who incorporates encountered life experience as his primary artistic language. His work is achieved through minimal stories, simple objects and small actions, an aesthetic often associated with minimal and conceptual art. Utilising the language of cinema, Diego Santomé shows us Castillos de arena (Sandcastles), a film, that speaks directly about the ephemeral nature of things and, ultimately, life. The film portrays two Czech Republic immigrants who reside in a tent on a beach in Playa America, Spain. It depicts their daily making of meticulously sculpted sandcastles in exchange for money, as a way to earn a small living. We witness the process of building, from the preparation of the utensils used, to the act of making, through to the destruction of the sandcastles as the tide washes in or rain begins to fall. Through this non-fictional narrative and simple observation we are confronted with the couple’s reality and the immaterial nature of the passing of time.

Diego Santomé lives and works in Vigo, Spain.

Recent solo exhibitions include; Five neons for five walls, Galeria Bacelos, Vigo, Spain; Derecho a la pereza, Foundacion RAC, Pontevedra; Lo que se esconde detrás de las cosas, Galeria Pilar Parra & Romero, Madrid, Se ofrece artista / Esto no es una broma. MACUF, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Unión. Recent group exhibitions include; El angel exterminador. A room for a spanish contemporary art, Palais de Beaux-Arts Bozar, Bruxelas; 89 km, Coleccion CGAC, Marco, museo de arte contemporanea de Vigo; La importancia del pez cebra, Galeria Parra & Romero, Madrid. Comisario Diego Santomé; The Forgotten Bar, Berlin. Comisario Pablo Alonso.