DATA SHEET
Title / Título:
NIDUS
Team members / Miembros del equipo:
Ángela Delgado Fernández (ES) artist / artista; Bruno Rosembaum Amador (ES) programmer / programador; Cecilia Pineda Calvillo (ES) artist / artista; Esther Rodríguez Pluma (ES) artist / artista; Rafael Garrido Vílchez (ES) artist / artista
Scientist / Científico:
Jorge Tirado Caballero (ES) neurosurgeon / neurocirujano
Virgen del Rocío Hospital, Seville (Andalusian Health Service, SNS) / Virgen del Rocío – Virgen Macarena, Sevilla (Servicio Andaluz de Salud, SNS)
Seed / Semilla:
“A Bomb in the Brain: Spetzler-Martin V Arteriovenous Malformations” / “Una bomba en el cerebro: malformaciones arteriovenosas Spetzler-Martin V”
Technique / Técnica:
Installation, sculpture and Arduino / Instalación, escultura y Arduino
Dimensions / Dimensiones:
195 x 95 x 25 cm
SEED
This metaphor is used by some patients to describe their experience of the illness. It’s the feeling that there is a ticking time bomb in their brain that could explode at any moment and cause sudden death. An aneurysm is a bulge in a weakened blood vessel wall, often in arteries. When it occurs in the brain, it can be life-threatening if it bursts, causing bleeding, stroke, or sudden death. Many aneurysms show no symptoms until they rupture.
THE VISION OF THE CREATORS OF THE WORK
Nidus is a sculptural installation inspired by a cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM)—a vascular anomaly in which arteries and veins connect abnormally, bypassing the capillary system and forming a tangled mass prone to rupture. This silent, potentially fatal condition becomes a metaphor for a persistent internal tension: the sensation of carrying a hidden “bomb” inside, with an uncertain countdown.
The work explores how the awareness of imminent risk alters one’s relationship with the body, time, and mortality. While contemporary society tends to marginalize the idea of death, Nidus brings it to the forefront, confronting the viewer with the latent presence of their own finitude.
The piece consists of a retro-illuminated latex structure that cyclically inflates and deflates through a system controlled by Arduino. This mechanism simulates the increasing pressure attributed to the malformation, producing a rhythmic, artificial breath that gives the sculpture a haunting corporeality. The use of soft, translucent materials reinforces the connection to the organic and the vulnerable.
Nidus functions as both a symbolic visualization of internal dysfunction and a reflection on existential fragility. It externalizes what is typically hidden, transforming a clinical condition into a sensory and conceptual experience. By doing so, it prompts a deeper awareness of life and death as interconnected, fundamental processes—reclaiming the body as a space of uncertainty, but also of presence.
CURATOR'S VISION OF THE WORK
“NIDUS” delves into the existential condition of living under the constant shadow of mortality—an internal “bomb” whose silent presence reshapes perception, emotion, and meaning. This visceral metaphor does not merely reference medical diagnoses or physical fragility; it speaks to a universal, though often suppressed, awareness of death as an inseparable companion to life. From birth, we are biologically and neurologically wired to survive, yet rarely do we confront the profound truth that to live is also to be vulnerable to sudden rupture.
The work invites us to consider how society cares for those who live with chronic conditions or terminal diagnoses—individuals whose temporal awareness is heightened, not diminished. It also raises timeless questions: What does it mean to exist under the weight of impermanence? How do we construct meaning in the face of unpredictability?
Rather than offering comfort, this installation creates space for discomfort—for a shared recognition of life’s fragility, and the quiet dignity of those who live in its constant presence.
Con la colaboración de la Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología – Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades @fecyt_ciencia
