Octavi Serra was born in Girona in 1990. He studied Product Design but ultimately chose to focus on visual poetry, drawing on his strong background in both design and photography. His works are characterized by their depiction of the frustrations of modern life, always infused with a sense of irony. Through optical illusions—many of which are installed in public space—he seeks to provoke awareness, surprise viewers, and share his concerns about contemporary society.
His installations and sculptures reflect the contradictions and dissatisfaction of the current social landscape. Serra’s interventions in the urban environment satirize contemporary culture while questioning the status quo. Each image conveys a message about sociopolitical issues, often requiring viewers to look twice before discovering its meaning.
You studied Product Design but eventually focused your career on artistic interventions in public space. What motivated this shift?
Little by little, I realized that functionality did not interest me.
Most university projects were focused on identifying new needs and solving them through design. I think we could perfectly stop inventing useful things and instead devote our efforts to understanding the world better, improving our morality, and asking ourselves questions that are not driven by economic profit.
We should focus on growing as human beings.
If design should concern itself with anything, it should be about producing a more horizontal society, not more tables and chairs. We already have those in mass production across countless catalogs worldwide. If time is spent designing tables and chairs, it should be to make them affordable, free, or accompanied by instructions so that people who cannot afford one can build it themselves.
Through your interventions, you address themes such as corruption, consumerism, and climate change from a poetic and creative perspective. What role do you think art plays in challenging the status quo and questioning existing socioeconomic structures?
Art is reflection. Art is communication.
In my case, I enjoy allowing people to understand certain messages without making them explicit. I put relatively common topics on the table and present them through minimally altered objects.
Perhaps it could be described as a poetic perspective because I am not trying to communicate any absolute truth. Regarding the themes explored in my work, I am not an expert. I educate myself because I am interested in them, but I do not claim to know how to solve the issues or answer the questions I raise.
I simply communicate them through a medium that is not verbal.
Your works have a strong relationship with public space, which is accessible to everyone. What does working in this environment bring to your practice? How do context and location influence your work and the public’s response?
I originally started working in the street for practical reasons: space and resources.
I did not have a gallery to exhibit in, nor did I have enough money to maintain a studio and produce large amounts of work. So I began creating pieces from objects and materials I already had at home and placing them in the street.
The reactions they generated surprised me, and seeing how people engaged with the work encouraged me to continue.
As for context, it is absolutely essential. I would say it represents 90% of the artwork itself.
I love exploring the possibilities offered by different environments and playing with them.
Do you think your work could have the same critical impact within a more institutional setting such as a museum?
I think so.
I have many ideas that could be developed in galleries and interior spaces, but my ability to communicate with galleries is almost nonexistent, and projects rarely move forward.
Perhaps in the future I will have the opportunity to do something in that context.
It would mean working within a new framework, and everything that the gallery environment represents conceptually could provide a fascinating foundation for artistic exploration.
You have created sculptures, murals, and ephemeral installations. What does working across different formats and media bring to your practice?
Continuous creativity.
Repeating the same thing bores me, and I do not see much point in it.
Each piece has meaning because of the place in which it exists. Whether the final result takes the form of a painting, sculpture, or installation is simply a consequence of the original idea.
Most of your projects are temporary. What role does ephemerality play in your work?
Ephemerality gives interventions a very different value.
Many of my works involve small changes, relocated objects, or subtle alterations to everyday items. Whether a piece is temporary or permanent is not usually my starting concern.
If a project requires something permanent, then it is designed with that objective in mind. However, most of my projects do not demand permanence, and budgets are often extremely limited.
As a result, many of the works naturally become ephemeral.
You frequently work with ordinary materials and objects such as tires and traffic signs. When developing a project, do you begin with the material or with the concept?
It varies greatly depending on the project.
Sometimes you start with a particular object or material and explore the possibilities it offers until the object itself suggests the answer.
Other times, you need to communicate a specific idea, and I try to reduce that idea to an object capable of representing it.
Once the object is found, the process becomes a game of finding the best fit between concept and material.
Today, social media has a major influence on the creation of collective imaginaries. As an artist and content creator, what is your perspective on these platforms?
I am not entirely sure.
For me, social media is essentially a communication tool. I feel almost obligated to use Instagram and share what I am doing.
Without Instagram, perhaps only a fifth of the people who know my work today would be aware of it.
Social networks allow us to reach far more people than would otherwise be possible. The downside is that participation has become almost mandatory if you want to make a living from your work.
You have collaborated with other artists on several projects. In a system that often promotes individualism, do you think art can function as a space for collaboration and collective resistance?
I think art provides many things that the system we live in is incapable of offering.
I enjoy collaborating with other people. However, I do not believe that art—or artists—are completely free from the individualism you mention.
In fact, artistic practice can often amplify the ego of those who dedicate themselves to it.
But honestly, I am not entirely sure.
