Stella Rahola Matutes. “La Biblioteca”

Borosilicate glass is a strong and ultra-clear type of glass that requires higher temperatures than common glass to be melted. This, combined with the fact that it can only be worked by hand (with no possibility of mechanization or industrialization), creates an intimate and necessary connection with craftsmanship. Considering the crisis of manual production in post-capitalist societies, there are not enough workshops to generate sufficient waste material. As a result, it is impossible to establish a melting plant to reintegrate this glass into its production cycle. Discarded borosilicate glass cannot be recycled and remains in a state of suspension.

Borosilicate glass is used to make laboratory components such as test tubes, ampoules, and coils—fundamental instruments for scientific research and knowledge. However, as mentioned, their creation requires embodied knowledge. This strict path, where one must first acquire manual skills in order to access science (a form of highly intellectualized knowledge), highlights the essential role of the hands and the body, thereby inverting the hierarchy of knowledge. Through a physical inquiry into the possibilities of making, Stella explores a prolonged and empathetic approach that seeks to reevaluate our relationship with material culture.

Biography of Stella Rahola Matutes

Licensed and master’s in architecture at ETSAB (UPC) Barcelona and MFA at Goldsmiths University of London (2019). Her background gives her an interest towards the space, the construction of structures and the ability of material to transform. Her practice deals with the creation of places and spatial situational encounters, displaying installations and sculptural pieces that rescue specific discarded materials.

The impossibility of including these materials in utilitarian or productive processes due to certain political contexts, situate them on a suspended threshold. Attending to their own agency of
transmutability, Stella points towards a state of impermanence and awkward fragility, involving other things and species. The kinships unfolded from these associations, spieling their strengths and affections, expands possibilities that involve an ecological contingency.

Recent exhibitions have included La Biblioteca, Dilalica (Barcelona Gallery Weekend 2023), Apunts per un incendi dels ulls, MACBA (Barcelona 2021), Inviting Life at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion (Barcelona, 2023), Teoria de la Alegria at MACE (Ibiza, 2020), Union Pacific (London, 2019), Politics of Translation at The Stone Gallery (London 2019), Deptford X (London, 2018), Tulca Festival of Visual Arts (Galway, 2018). Recently, Ciutat de Mallorca Award finalist (2025), Arts Libris Banc Sabadell Award (2024), Visuals Arts Biennal Ricard Camí Award (2022), the A-FAD prize in recognition of her career (2021) and the Vila Casas Foundation Sculpture Award (2021). Currently resident artist at Hangar, Barcelona (2023-2025).
Since 2016 teaching in MEATS (Master in Ephemeral Architecture and Temporary Spaces) at Elisava School of Design and Engineering in Barcelona.

Acknowledgements – Artist’s Note

La Biblioteca has been possible thanks to the support and generosity of the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca with Antònia Maria Perelló, Montserrat Torras and Pilar Baos and the MACBA. The production of the work had the support of the Dilalica gallery. We would also like to thank Cristina Anglada for her support. We would like to highlight the effort and involvement of the people who have collaborated in the assembly: Mana Pinto and Eirini Sampani. And the care of Àlex Castro deserves special thanks. Several glass craftsmen have been essential for this project by opening their workshops and facilitating the collection of discarded material: Vidra Foc, Alex Añó and especially Ferran Collado.