UN VIAJE A NINGUNA PARTE
(A JOURNEY TO NOWHERE)

The works and talents of some art therapy patients are as impressive as their stories.

In the last stage of his life and after living on the street for many years, Sócrates Lor, one of our art therapy patients taken in by Obra Social Santa Lluïsa de Marillac, had his first exhibition at the Barceloneta Library – Fraternitat in April 2019. The series of work, entitled Un Viaje a Ninguna Parte (A Journey to Nowhere), includes a collection of work created during months of art therapy, and made using various mediums and materials.

Through this project, not only was it possible to acknowledge the talent and the emotional evolution of Sócrates Lor throughout his rehabilitation but, also, his art and its reflection of his experiences. His work opens up a wider debate regarding the hardships of living on the street and the emotional impact that it bears, bringing with it an opportunity to create visibility for a group which is virtually invisible to the rest of society.

This body of work culminated in an autobiographical book, titled Un Viaje a Ninguna Parte (A Journey to Nowhere), which was produced with the collaboration of art therapist Florencia Pacheco:


Excerpt:

Why choose "Socrates" as a pseudonym? I don’t know. But it seems right to me.

Socrates walked the streets of Athens asking questions of others and of himself.

This Socrates walks the streets of Spain watching and questioning through his solitary and inquisitive gaze.

There are people like Socrates Lor, for which the street becomes their fate.

We call them homeless.

They’re the people we never face. Ghosts in the street that we avoid for fear, mistrust, or perhaps so that we do not have to see ourselves reflected in their reality.

Or simply for the convenience of not having to take responsibility.

I stop. We sit. I look him in the eyes. I listen to his history.