An investigation into contemporary identification systems and their ability to define who we are and how we exist within society.
PD-SCI > API (ADS)-2026-ES-0001
IED Madrid - Students: Sofía Maya, Alejandro Domínguez, Tomás Morena, Henrique Amaro, Arturo Alda, Alejandro Sanz y Clara Moll
Academic year
2026-2027
PD-SCI > API (ADS)-2026-ES-0001 explores how contemporary identification systems shape the way we exist, interact with others and access essential resources. The research begins with a coat designed for people experiencing homelessness and broadens its scope to address an issue that affects society as a whole: our dependence on documents, records and data to be recognised within the system.
The project explores the tension between the accumulation and loss of identifiers. While hyper-codification turns individuals into collections of data that are constantly recorded and validated, decodification can lead to exclusion and invisibility. Through audiovisual works, digital archives, interactive interfaces and a generative sound installation, the exhibition creates an environment in which material reality is translated into codes and identity becomes information.
The experience culminates with the visitor’s own presence, as they are incorporated into the system through an image that is transformed in real time. In this way, the exhibition invites us to reflect on the mechanisms that determine who can be recognised, and what happens when existence increasingly depends on remaining registered.
The project was part of the Iberoamérica y Carabanchel exhibition, held as part of BID 26 (Ibero-American Design Biennial).
Project from the courses of
