Art and Life in Barcelona
Uniqlo U Spring/Summer Collection
Apartamento magazine spotlights three creative practices in Barcelona. Dressed in Spring & Summer Uniqlo U, these artists shared their thoughts on living in the moment.
Published in Barcelona, Apartamento is a Spanish magazine showcasing the home environments of creators from all over the world, viewing interiors as a window into lifestyle. Since launching in 2008, it has gained an international readership for its inspiring photography and prose and its gorgeous layout. For this special feature, we joined Apartamento on a visit to three studios in Barcelona.

Artist 01Lolo & Sosaku

Uniqlo U Oversized Work Shirt $49.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Pleated Chino Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Oversized Work Shirt $49.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Parachute Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

Organic and original worlds, built collaboratively

It’s over 18,500 kilometres, as the crow flies, from Villa Gesell, Buenos Aires to Tokyo. Lolo, born in Argentina, and Sosaku, born in Japan, met in Barcelona, in between the two. “Physically speaking, we met in 2004, but in a spiritual sense we’ve been together all along,” says Lolo. At the time, Sosaku had been travelling around Europe and stopped in Barcelona. One night, he wound up crashing on the sofa of a girl he met at a party. Turns out Lolo was her roommate. “When I woke up, I found Sosaku sitting on the sofa. He helped me decipher a Japanese magazine that had taken some of my work, then showed me some of his own art. Ten minutes later, we did our first drawing together.”

The two have been collaborating ever since. At first they worked on drawings, but never quite felt satisfied with the result. So they experimented with music. The results were special but sounded too familiar. “We realised that to make an entirely new sound, we had to make new instruments. Then one day, we found the answer in the pendular movement of an object swinging from the ceiling.

We do a lot of research alongside our creative work, so it took a few years to get to some very particular sounds. After nineteen years working together, we don’t even know where the ideas come from—it’s a relationship that feeds itself. Sometimes we’re in the studio, side by side, not talking, each of us doing something different, and we’ll start finishing each other’s work.”

We met up with Lolo and Sosaku to see De la Tierra, a site-specific project presented in Shanghai in 2017 that has landed at La Veloz, a former factory on the outskirts of Barcelona. The installation embodies a potentiality in which the built environment creates relationships that leave out human beings. Next up, we visited their studio. Packed with all kinds of objects, it brims with the air of possibility. This is a playful space where work happens outside of genre constraints like theatre, music, sculpture, painting and film. Neither of them received formal training in music or art. “We’re messy. Our welding is bad. We even blow holes in the metal. Our painting machines are always broken. But that’s the way we operate. But some of the work turns out super clean.”

From automated devices like painting machines to handmade instruments, their work seems to have arrived from a strange realm separate from our everyday lives. Lolo and Sosaku learn from observing, making mistakes and letting their work speak. “If you respect the unexpected, things work out fine. Once you start pushing for control, you block the natural flow of things.”

“Growing up in Japan, I liked customising items from UNIQLO,” says Sosaku. “I appreciate how functional the clothes are. Just right for working,” adds Lolo.

Uniqlo U Short Jacket $119.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Lightweight Long Sleeve Sweatshirt $49.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Pleated Chino Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Oversized Utility Jacket $129.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U AIRism Cotton Oversized Crew Neck T-Shirt $24.90

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Easy Shorts $59.90 (Coming Soon)

Colourful 50 Socks $4.90

Lolo & Sosaku

Artists

Lolo, born in Argentina, and Sosaku, born in Tokyo, work together in Barcelona. Combining elements like form and linearity with music, they create installations that embody new possibilities. Their performances have been exhibited at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Power Station of Art, Shanghai.

Artist 01Lolo & Sosaku

Organic and original worlds, built collaboratively

It’s over 18,500 kilometres, as the crow flies, from Villa Gesell, Buenos Aires to Tokyo. Lolo, born in Argentina, and Sosaku, born in Japan, met in Barcelona, in between the two. “Physically speaking, we met in 2004, but in a spiritual sense we’ve been together all along,” says Lolo. At the time, Sosaku had been travelling around Europe and stopped in Barcelona. One night, he wound up crashing on the sofa of a girl he met at a party. Turns out Lolo was her roommate. “When I woke up, I found Sosaku sitting on the sofa. He helped me decipher a Japanese magazine that had taken some of my work, then showed me some of his own art. Ten minutes later, we did our first drawing together.”

Uniqlo U Oversized Work Shirt $49.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Pleated Chino Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Oversized Work Shirt $49.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Parachute Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

The two have been collaborating ever since. At first they worked on drawings, but never quite felt satisfied with the result. So they experimented with music. The results were special but sounded too familiar. “We realised that to make an entirely new sound, we had to make new instruments. Then one day, we found the answer in the pendular movement of an object swinging from the ceiling.We do a lot of research alongside our creative work, so it took a few years to get to some very particular sounds. After nineteen years working together, we don’t even know where the ideas come from—it’s a relationship that feeds itself. Sometimes we’re in the studio, side by side, not talking, each of us doing something different, and we’ll start finishing each other’s work.”

We met up with Lolo and Sosaku to see De la Tierra, a site-specific project presented in Shanghai in 2017 that has landed at La Veloz, a former factory on the outskirts of Barcelona. The installation embodies a potentiality in which the built environment creates relationships that leave out human beings.

Next up, we visited their studio. Packed with all kinds of objects, it brims with the air of possibility. This is a playful space where work happens outside of genre constraints like theatre, music, sculpture, painting and film. Neither of them received formal training in music or art. “We’re messy. Our welding is bad. We even blow holes in the metal. Our painting machines are always broken. But that’s the way we operate. But some of the work turns out super clean.”

From automated devices like painting machines to handmade instruments, their work seems to have arrived from a strange realm separate from our everyday lives. Lolo and Sosaku learn from observing, making mistakes and letting their work speak. “If you respect the unexpected, things work out fine. Once you start pushing for control, you block the natural flow of things.”

“Growing up in Japan, I liked customising items from UNIQLO,” says Sosaku. “I appreciate how functional the clothes are. Just right for working,” adds Lolo.

Uniqlo U Short Jacket $119.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Lightweight Long Sleeve Sweatshirt $49.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Pleated Chino Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Oversized Utility Jacket $129.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U AIRism Cotton Oversized Crew Neck T-Shirt $24.90

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Easy Shorts $59.90 (Coming Soon)

Colourful 50 Socks $4.90

Lolo & Sosaku

Artists

Lolo, born in Argentina, and Sosaku, born in Tokyo, work together in Barcelona. Combining elements like form and linearity with music, they create installations that embody new possibilities. Their performances have been exhibited at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Power Station of Art, Shanghai.

Artist 02Candela Capitán

Uniqlo U V-Neck Sleeveless Cardigan $59.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Seamless Type Sleeveless T-Shirt $29.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Pleated Jogger Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

A wonder of contemporary dance, telling stories with the body and the soul

Candela started dancing at age four. “I’ve danced for my entire life,” she says. “It’s become a natural part of me.” Born in Seville and raised in Cádiz in southwestern Spain, Candela began her studies with classical dance and later majored in contemporary dance at a school in Granada. After graduating, she spent time between there and Madrid and also lived in London, but she didn’t feel at home. Six years ago, she settled down in Barcelona.

We met up with Candela at Can Framis, a museum focused on contemporary Catalan painting. It’s in the Poblenou neighbourhood, not far from the city centre, on the opposite side of the city from the esteemed Institut del Teatre, where Candela currently enrolled. She says she likes the clean lines and heaviness of the building. “I’ve always been intrigued by the artistic process. At school, I’m concentrating on conceptual contemporary dance, a style similar to postmodern dance that originated in New York in the 1960s and captured the attention of a large number of Catalan choreographers. The academic nature of the program has been great for me. It’s very difficult to find a school where they teach you to become a choreographer and not a dancer.”

Candela puts great emphasis on the message of the performance, striving to create something very personal. Her pieces are connected on a narrative level, seeking to balance the material with the immaterial.

“I’m always firing on all four cylinders. All the details are important, not just the physical, but the makeup, costumes, scenery, colours, and especially the concepts that define the work. There’s also an emotional component that can’t be captured with words. We live in a time where what we take in with our eyes has so much weight. That’s why I consider the visual and the physical equally important.”

Candela’s work reflects on the relationship between new media and the body, especially the female body, and the imprint this has had on the younger generation, whose visual experience is mediated by devices. For her, it’s all about practice. “I like routines. But I’ve had a love-hate relationship with dance. My thirst for knowledge is what led me down this path. I have great passion for training and learning. Expertise is the result of perseverance.”

An example of these ideas in action can be found in performance pieces such as 19762. or The Death at the Club Alone and Connected, which premiered at Staatstheatre Kassel. Skillfully composed, these new, dreamlike environments are born from the expression of her own and other people’s bodies. “My dance speaks to the concrete, but with a kind of innocence that leaves space for the viewer. Dance relies on fantasy. Take that away, and it’s not dance anymore."

“I love UNIQLO’s approach to pattern and line. It’s classic and very Japanese.”

Uniqlo U Oversized Long Sleeve Long Shirt $59.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U AIRism Cotton Oversized T-Shirt $19.90

Uniqlo U Curved Jeans $79.90 (Coming Soon)

Candela Capitán

Performance artist and choreographer

Born in Seville, Candela is a performance artist and choreographer based in Barcelona. Her work blends choreography with installation and performance to create dreamlike, parallel realities. Drawing from an array of new media, she pushes the limits of artistic expression.

Artist 02Candela Capitán

A wonder of contemporary dance, telling stories with the body and the soul

Candela started dancing at age four. “I’ve danced for my entire life,” she says. “It’s become a natural part of me.” Born in Seville and raised in Cádiz in southwestern Spain, Candela began her studies with classical dance and later majored in contemporary dance at a school in Granada. After graduating, she spent time between there and Madrid and also lived in London, but she didn’t feel at home. Six years ago, she settled down in Barcelona.

We met up with Candela at Can Framis, a museum focused on contemporary Catalan painting. It’s in the Poblenou neighbourhood, not far from the city centre, on the opposite side of the city from the esteemed Institut del Teatre, where Candela currently enrolled. She says she likes the clean lines and heaviness of the building.

Uniqlo U V-Neck Sleeveless Cardigan $59.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Seamless Type Sleeveless T-Shirt $29.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Pleated Jogger Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

“I’ve always been intrigued by the artistic process. At school, I’m concentrating on conceptual contemporary dance, a style similar to postmodern dance that originated in New York in the 1960s and captured the attention of a large number of Catalan choreographers. The academic nature of the program has been great for me. It’s very difficult to find a school where they teach you to become a choreographer and not a dancer.”Candela puts great emphasis on the message of the performance, striving to create something very personal. Her pieces are connected on a narrative level, seeking to balance the material with the immaterial.

“I’m always firing on all four cylinders. All the details are important, not just the physical, but the makeup, costumes, scenery, colours, and especially the concepts that define the work. There’s also an emotional component that can’t be captured with words. We live in a time where what we take in with our eyes has so much weight. That’s why I consider the visual and the physical equally important.”

“I love UNIQLO’s approach to pattern and line. It’s classic and very Japanese.”

Candela’s work reflects on the relationship between new media and the body, especially the female body, and the imprint this has had on the younger generation, whose visual experience is mediated by devices. For her, it’s all about practice. “I like routines. But I’ve had a love-hate relationship with dance. My thirst for knowledge is what led me down this path. I have great passion for training and learning. Expertise is the result of perseverance.”

An example of these ideas in action can be found in performance pieces such as 19762. or The Death at the Club Alone and Connected, which premiered at Staatstheatre Kassel. Skillfully composed, these new, dreamlike environments are born from the expression of her own and other people’s bodies. “My dance speaks to the concrete, but with a kind of innocence that leaves space for the viewer. Dance relies on fantasy. Take that away, and it’s not dance anymore."

Uniqlo U Oversized Long Sleeve Long Shirt $59.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U AIRism Cotton Oversized T-Shirt $19.90

Uniqlo U Curved Jeans $79.90 (Coming Soon)

Candela Capitán

Performance artist and choreographer

Born in Seville, Candela is a performance artist and choreographer based in Barcelona. Her work blends choreography with installation and performance to create dreamlike, parallel realities. Drawing from an array of new media, she pushes the limits of artistic expression.

Artist 03Maguette Dieng

If you want to break new ground, check out your roots

We met DJ and producer Maguette one afternoon at the space her musical collective, Jokkoo, shares with a few other cultural initiatives. Located on the third floor of a warehouse near Montjuïc Cemetery in the Barcelona industrial district of Zona Franca, the space looks out over the neighbourhood where Maguette grew up. Over the years, Maguette has watched this place transform as the city’s music scene evolved. “I’m always investigating music. I can listen to the same albums for years, but staying up to date with what’s happening is what nourishes me. I have a brother, two years older than me, who was interested in African American culture, so I started listening to that music too. I also spent hours watching MTV Base, learning about other Black artists. Being part of the small Black African community here in Spain, it was a way of connecting with other Black realities in other countries, of feeling represented and less alone.”

Uniqlo U Oversized Work Shirt $49.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Parachute Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

“UNIQLO clothes are so comfortable. Their neutral character is a blank canvas for adding self-expressive elements.”

Uniqlo U Oversized Single Breasted Coat $199.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Oversized Shirt $59.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Parachute Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

Maguette has been DJing since 2019, though it began as a hobby. Having studied event production, patternmaking, and costume design, she started a small clothing brand. But then she began practicing with her partner, Baba Sy, who invited her to perform at a local club called Razzmatazz. The wheels were in motion.

Maguette’s mixes are eclectic and unpredictable, a diversity of songs and sounds from around the world that transcends style. “My reference is the BPM. I feel very comfortable playing with different genres. I’m constantly looking for underground sounds. No one really knows what’s going to happen in my sets—myself included.”

In 2017, she and Baba Sy co-founded Jokkoo, which means “connection” in the language of the Wolof people of Senegal. The idea was to give visibility to the various scenes heard on the African continent. “We noticed that there wasn’t a broad representation of the African music scene in Europe. Especially the brand-new sounds and genres.” Today, Jokkoo includes likeminded DJs Opoku, Mookie, Miriam, B4mba, and Ikram Bouloum. Together, they’ve been programming lineups for clubs. “It’s really fun collaborating. We’re creating a new music scene.”

Maguette likes to leave room for improvisation so that interesting moments and conversations can arise. “You can’t let routine take over. Spontaneity is key, if you don’t want to miss out on the magical and the unexpected. We’re here to enjoy the present. I’m with the people I want to be with and we’re living the lives we want to live.”

Maguette Dieng

DJ, producer and cultural programmer

Maguette gained recognition performing under the name Mbodj at Barcelona clubs like Razzmatazz and Apolo and music festivals like MUTEK. She is also a founder of the musical collective Jokkoo, a group of six DJs aiming to spread the word about African music. Nurturing an eclectic and evolving music scene, they’ve made a new community.

Artist 03Maguette Dieng

If you want to break new ground, check out your roots

We met DJ and producer Maguette one afternoon at the space her musical collective, Jokkoo, shares with a few other cultural initiatives. Located on the third floor of a warehouse near Montjuïc Cemetery in the Barcelona industrial district of Zona Franca, the space looks out over the neighbourhood where Maguette grew up. Over the years, Maguette has watched this place transform as the city’s music scene evolved.

“I’m always investigating music. I can listen to the same albums for years, but staying up to date with what’s happening is what nourishes me. I have a brother, two years older than me, who was interested in African American culture, so I started listening to that music too. I also spent hours watching MTV Base, learning about other Black artists. Being part of the small Black African community here in Spain, it was a way of connecting with other Black realities in other countries, of feeling represented and less alone.”

Maguette has been DJing since 2019, though it began as a hobby. Having studied event production, patternmaking, and costume design, she started a small clothing brand. But then she began practicing with her partner, Baba Sy, who invited her to perform at a local club called Razzmatazz. The wheels were in motion.

Maguette’s mixes are eclectic and unpredictable, a diversity of songs and sounds from around the world that transcends style. “My reference is the BPM. I feel very comfortable playing with different genres. I’m constantly looking for underground sounds. No one really knows what’s going to happen in my sets—myself included.”

“UNIQLO clothes are so comfortable. Their neutral character is a blank canvas for adding self-expressive elements.”

Uniqlo U Oversized Single Breasted Coat $199.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Oversized Shirt $59.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Parachute Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

In 2017, she and Baba Sy co-founded Jokkoo, which means “connection” in the language of the Wolof people of Senegal. The idea was to give visibility to the various scenes heard on the African continent. “We noticed that there wasn’t a broad representation of the African music scene in Europe. Especially the brand-new sounds and genres.” Today, Jokkoo includes likeminded DJs Opoku, Mookie, Miriam, B4mba, and Ikram Bouloum. Together, they’ve been programming lineups for clubs. “It’s really fun collaborating. We’re creating a new music scene.”

Maguette likes to leave room for improvisation so that interesting moments and conversations can arise. “You can’t let routine take over. Spontaneity is key, if you don’t want to miss out on the magical and the unexpected. We’re here to enjoy the present. I’m with the people I want to be with and we’re living the lives we want to live.”

Uniqlo U Oversized Work Shirt $49.90 (Coming Soon)

Uniqlo U Wide Fit Parachute Pants $79.90 (Coming Soon)

Maguette Dieng

DJ, producer and cultural programmer

Maguette gained recognition performing under the name Mbodj at Barcelona clubs like Razzmatazz and Apolo and music festivals like MUTEK. She is also a founder of the musical collective Jokkoo, a group of six DJs aiming to spread the word about African music. Nurturing an eclectic and evolving music scene, they’ve made a new community.

Photography by Ana Cuba Styling by Fer SempereText by Laura FradeTranslation by Miyuki SakamotoSpecial thanks to Apartamento team

Share This Page