Care Laboratory , on the one hand, consists of a spatial, lighting and sound intervention in the bathroom of the house where I lived for more than 10 years in San Juan de Tibás, Costa Rica, within the framework of the first Casa MA, in 2018.

The lights were controlled by a robotic system so that they oscillated with an organic rhythm in synchrony with the sound composition that collected body sounds (heartbeat, intestinal sounds, respiratory sounds, among others).

In addition, sounds and noises produced in the daily life of using the intervened space (the bathroom) were included, with the intention of delving into self-care and exploring how the sounds, lights, objects and textures that arise from the time-space of self-care they modify it and create care laboratories, that is, emotional habitats.

The sound composition made exclusively for this project was created in collaboration with the composer Elena Zúñiga.

At the same time, the Care Laboratory project originated a collective action that had as its axis rethinking and discussing the potential of personal acts, their expansive capacity and their socio-political scope. The action focused on providing spaces and symbolic gestures of solidarity and sharing care.

The dynamics of the performance consisted of inviting a group of people to provide care through the committed and conscious action of washing their face and putting on a mask to comfort the skin. The people invited also invited other people with whom they replicated the action. This process created an intimate space where the experience was shared and discussed.

The Care Laboratory performance was carried out for the first time at Casa MA in 2018. Subsequently, it was performed within the framework of International Immigrant Day, in the Chinatown of San José, Costa Rica. On this second occasion, the action was adapted in reaction to the 24 femicides recorded during 2019. The action was carried out by migrant women as a call to sisterhood and to take care of each other, regardless of the country of origin or immigration status.

Personal acts can be hyperpolitical and significant expressions of resistance. Acts that promote self-knowledge, pleasure and care for our network of affections are a possibility to rethink the power of the private and a way of being in the world, of transforming it and of transforming ourselves.