Take Long Take is an exhibition conceived specifically for the third floor of CentroCentro in Madrid. It invites visitors to immerse themselves in a visually enveloping experience, where moving through different settings becomes a continuous cinematic exercise, without cuts. Almudena Lobera’s proposal unfolds as an immersive experience in which the symmetrical structure of the space generates a palindromic reading, allowing the journey to be perceived similarly from both ends of the imposing building.

“Take Long Take is a site-specific project,” explains the artist, emphasizing that the unique architecture of the Palacio de Cibeles was the inspiration behind the narrative that shapes this exhibition. “What first caught my attention about the third floor was that, depending on which elevator is used, the journey begins at one end or the other. The floor has a horseshoe shape with an open balcony, which led me to decide that the exhibition should be mirrored. From either wing toward the center, one exhibition unfolds, and from there toward the other wing, a similar one appears—but with nuances. I wanted to create a palindromic effect, where the route feels the same from both sides, and as visitors cross the central axis, they experience a sense of déjà vu, as if they had already lived that moment, but with subtle variations.”

The concept of a long take materializes through the interconnection of the different rooms, where each space builds upon the previous one, creating a seamless flow without interruptions. Lobera faced the challenge of unifying a 500-square-meter space, where disparate elements such as columns and fire extinguishers coexist. The solution came when she noticed the glass railing encircling the central void of the building, which she decided to use as a visual reference. In this way, she treated the structure as a symbolic water level. “I covered the glass panels with blue vinyl and painted the walls the same color at that height. This way, the space becomes a vast pool, immersing the visitor in the exhibition, with a conceptual band that creates the illusion of water reaching up to the neck.”

This approach not only establishes a dialogue with one of Lobera’s previous works, Where the Interior Begins (2021), but also deepens her ongoing exploration of recurring themes such as the visibility of the hidden and the coexistence of opposing ideas. In that 2021 silkprint, Lobera drew a strange swimming pool where water expands infinitely, while the universe remains contained and measurable within it—a staircase offering passage either into the exterior or out toward the interior, an access point between two dimensions. Take Long Take feels like stepping into that image, immersing the viewer in a space of transformation and transition.

A clear example of this duality is the video The Beautifate, which opens the exhibition and is presented at both ends of the route. In this piece, a palm reader and a manicurist engage in a performance where the palm reader beautifies the manicurist’s nails while reading her hands. This interplay between the aesthetic and the spiritual, between the front and back of the hands, reflects Lobera’s ongoing exploration of the complexities of what is seen and unseen.

At the entrance, just before the video, visitors encounter the work Floating and Falling / Falling and Floating—sculptures of nautical buoys covered in salt that evoke the famous scene from Alice in Wonderland, in which the protagonist grows uncontrollably and creates a sea of tears. This symbolic image alludes to moments of suffering and resilience in artistic creation, inviting reflection on pain as an essential part of the creative process.

Music, a recurring element in Lobera’s exhibitions, plays a crucial role in shaping the emotional atmosphere. “The music that accompanies my work is an essential part of my creative process,” the artist notes.

This tribute to sound is embodied in the site-specific work Melancholy and Restraint, a suspended sculpture made of oven-baked iron tubes hovering over a black-tiled pool. The tubes form a sound wave from Teardrop by Massive Attack—a song whose lyrics Elizabeth Fraser dedicated to Jeff Buckley, who tragically drowned in the Mississippi River in 1997.

Another piece exploring Lobera’s ongoing interest in perception and visuality is The Light in the Shadow is Blue / Blue is the Light in the Shadow. These twin installations examine how light behaves underwater: a glass surface suspended at 1.40 meters is crossed by translucent fabrics, illustrating how colors vanish with depth—red first, then orange and yellow, until only blue remains—just before darkness takes over.

The central space unexpectedly pays homage to filmmaker David Lynch, referencing experimental cinema and the depths of the human mind. Visitors enter the exhibition’s core through a curtain, where they find its centerpiece: a sculpture of a golden fish split in half. This work symbolizes the culmination of the creative process, representing the search for profound ideas within consciousness. The sculpture also makes a direct reference to Lynch’s book Catching the Big Fish, in which the director reflects on the depths of the mind in search of inspiration.

The journey continues toward the opposite end of the space, where subtle changes in the works reinforce a sense of ambiguity and distortion, leading visitors to discover an environment that challenges traditional expectations associated with an exhibition in a landmark like CentroCentro. Along the way, viewers also encounter a series of drawings that offer subtle clues to the ideas explored by the artist throughout the installations, acting as conceptual anchors within the immersive experience.

While some of the pieces echo recurring themes in Lobera’s career, all have been created exclusively for this project, aiming to construct an immersive scenography that surprises the viewer, inviting them to explore states of introspection beyond the visible and the tangible.