Santiago Sierra

LP record with the National Anthems of the 27 states of the European Community played simultaneously and continuously (Side A), and the National Anthem of the European Community played backwards and continuously (Side B). 31 x 31 cm (12¼ x 12¼ in). Edition of 100, signed and numbered.

Santiago Sierra’s LP edition transforms national symbolism into a dissonant sound intervention. On Side A, the national anthems of all 27 EU member states are played simultaneously and without interruption – producing a chaotic, overlapping mass of sound that drowns out individual identities in a noisy, unresolvable whole. On Side B, the official anthem of the European Union (based on Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”) is played in reverse, subverting its familiar harmonies into an unsettling, unfamiliar score. The work exposes the contradictions of collective identity and the limits of unity in diversity, using the charged language of national music to question power structures, cultural representation, and political illusion.

€ 300  € 200 / $300  shipping costs included

From Wall Works
Test strips of cockroach pheromones to be displayed equidistantly on a wall. Stripes 10 x 6.5 cm (4 x 2½ in), overall dimensions depend on the wall. Limited to 12 installations, with a signed and numbered certificate giving specific on-site instructions.

This wall work edition by Santiago Sierra transforms an architectural surface into a charged zone of discomfort and potential infestation. The work consists of standardized test strips containing cockroach pheromones, installed at regular intervals across a wall. Invisible to the eye but biologically active, the strips emit a powerful chemical attractant that – under the right conditions – can provoke an actual infestation. With its minimalist aesthetic and precise spacing, the installation initially appears innocuous, even decorative. Yet behind this clean geometry lies a latent threat: if cockroaches are present in the space, they will be drawn to the wall, exposing the reality of contamination and undermining the supposed neutrality of the gallery environment. In typical Sierra fashion, the work functions as both a conceptual provocation and a social critique – using invisible biological material to question ideas of hygiene, control, and the boundaries of institutional space. Wall With Blattodea Pheromone is not merely to be looked at, but to be lived with – its meaning contingent on presence, vulnerability, and the unseen systems that shape both art and life.

Flag made from three variations of black fabric, thread, embroidery, 148 x 208 cm (58¼ x 82 in). Edition of 25, signed and numbered on certificate.

Santiago Sierra’s edition Bandera Negra de la República Española is a striking reimagining of a national symbol. This “black flag” transforms the tricolor banner of the Second Spanish Republic into a monochrome emblem of mourning, resistance, and historical critique. Hand-embroidered by artisans, the work serves as what Sierra calls an "anti-symbol" – a stark meditation on the unrealized promises and enduring traumas of the Spanish Republic. The edition was created in connection with a two-part initiative by the artist: a street campaign in Madrid displaying posters of the flag to provoke public dialogue, and a formal presentation at the Museo Reina Sofía. This dual format – at once public and academic – underscores Sierra’s intention to spark a generational conversation about memory, democracy, and dissent in contemporary Spain. Sierra’s work offers no closure – it insists on reflection.

EUR 12,000

Cast aluminum relief sign, with paint, 59 x 69 x 2 cm (23 x 27 x ¾ in). Edition: XV, signed and numbered on separate label.

With this edition, Santiago Sierra presents a stark and provocative meditation on the politics of exclusion. Echoing his controversial intervention at the 2003 Venice Biennale – where the Spanish Pavilion was bricked up, allowing entry only to those with a Spanish passport via a rear door – this work expands on the theme of restricted access with biting irony. The plate lists a seemingly endless and contradictory catalogue of those denied entry: from “the unemployed” to “employees,” “pregnant women” to “housewives,” “non-English speakers” to “people with computer skills.” In doing so, Sierra parodies the arbitrary and often discriminatory mechanisms through which institutions and power structures regulate inclusion and belonging. By mimicking the tone and formality of bureaucratic signage, Door Plate exposes the absurdity and cruelty that can underpin systems of control. It confronts the viewer with the mechanisms of social, political, and economic exclusion, and in its exaggerated scope, forces us to question who decides who belongs – and who does not.

EUR 12,000

Published for Kunsthaus Bregenz
Portfolio box with 111 black-and-white photographs and a text sheet (colophon). Each print 21 x 29.7 cm (8¼ x 11¾ in). Edition of 40 + X, signed and numbered on text sheet.

This photographic edition revisits Santiago Sierra’s seminal performance 111 Constructions with 10 Modules and 10 Workers, distilling its conceptual rigor into a visual sequence. Presented as a grid of black-and-white images, the piece documents variations of ten workers repetitively assembling and reconfiguring ten identical white modules. The serial nature of the composition echoes the mechanical, almost ritualistic labor enacted in the original performance. With characteristic austerity, Sierra transforms minimal gesture into political commentary. The modules – neutral, blank, and interchangeable – stand in for standardized units of production, while the workers, anonymous and interchangeable themselves, perform a choreography of physical labor stripped of individual expression. The piece underscores the alienation and repetition inherent in many forms of waged labor, echoing themes of control, visibility, and value central to Sierra’s practice. 111 Constructions is not just a formal exercise in permutation, but a critique of the conditions under which labor is commodified, fragmented, and rendered invisible – visibly enacted, but structurally overlooked.

EUR 2,700