Blanca Bercial uses language and sound to investigate and observe the individual and collective experience of public spaces. Originally from Madrid and based in San Francisco since 2018, she works in the field of Contemporary Art practices and Sound Studies. Blanca graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute with a Master of Arts in History and Theory of Contemporary Art, 2020. She has presented her research work on Sound Studies at the 2021 ReVIEWING Black Mountain College International Conference; the 2nd International Conference on Sonorities Research (CIPS) of the Grupo de Estudos em Imagens, Sonoridades e Tecnologias of Brazil, 2021; and at the Leonardo Art and Science Rendezvous (LASER Talks) Stanford, 2020. Blanca writes poetry, short story, and essay for different publications and has recently published a collection of poetry Trash Poems (La Granja Editorial, 2020). She is also an art practitioner, in her work, she researches the idiosyncrasy of silence to investigate its ambiguity, its uncertainty and inhabit its contradictions. She was an artist in residence at Tsonami Arte Sonoro in Valparaíso (Chile) in 2022. She has exhibited work in San Francisco, New York, Aguascalientes (Mexico), and Lisbon (Portugal). She has been awarded the 2020 Outstanding Thesis Award from the San Francisco Art Institute, the Anne Bremer Memorial Library's 36th and 37th Annual Artists' Book Contest Award.


MA in History and Theory of Contemporary Art
San Francisco Art Institute

BA in Media Studies, Advertising and Public Relations
Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Chinese Language and Culture
Beijing Language and Culture University


AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

Outstanding Thesis Award 2020, San Francisco Art Institute, MA History and Theory of Contemporary Art
Anne Bremer Memorial Library's 37th Annual Artists' Book Contest
Anne Bremer Memorial Library's 36th Annual Artists' Book Contest

RESIDENCIES

2022 Artist in Residence at Tsonami Arte Sonoro, Residencia B.A.S.E., Valparaíso, Chile


SYMPOSIUMS AND CONFERENCES

2021 ReVIEWING Black Mountain College. International Conference co-hosted by Black Mountain College Museum and UNC Asheville. November 12-14, 2021, Asheville, NC.
2021 “Listening to silence—a state of attention,” Where Is the Other? Sound-based Epistemologies and Sonic Imaginations, 2nd International Conference on Sonorities Research, Grupo de Estudos em Imagens, Sonoridades e Tecnologias (GEIST), UFSC, UFES, IFRS, UFRGS, UNISINOS and UFF, Brazil.
2020 “The Paradox of Silence withn a Social and Artistic Framework,” Paradoxes and illsuions: an evening about innovative and disruptive concepts of art, Leonardo Art and Science Rendezvous (LASER Talks), Stanford University, CA, USA.
2020 “Listening to the Inframince—An Artistic Sensibility to Listen to the Liminal Crossings of Sound,” Master of Arts Symposium, Moderated by Nicole Archer, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA.


INTERVIEWS AND MEDIA

2022 “Espacio Imprevisto—Blanca Bercial” Radio Tsonami. Interviewed by Pablo Saavedra, Hosted by Rodrigo Ríos Zunino
2020 “Blanca Bercial—Sound & Silence,” Audium Listens #2. Podcast. Interview by David Shaff.
2020 “Blanca Bercial, A Silence Hangs in the Air,” SFAI Sessions Vol. 2, Interview by Miles Stemp.
2020 “Blanca Bercial-Elogio de la Basura,” Interview by María Fuentes, METAL Magazine, Barcelona, Spain.
2020 “Trash Poems, by Blanca Bercial,” Neo2 Magazine, Spain.
2020 “Trash poems’ de Blanca Bercial, nueva publicación de La Granja Editorial,” Graffica, Spain and Latin America.
2020 “BookTues Una reseña de «TRASHPOEMS» de Blanca Bercial.” By Inés Belmonte. Dare to be One of Us, Girl, Spain.


PUBLICATIONS

2022
What constitutes silence?, Black Mountain College Journal, Volume 13, Asheville, NC, USA
Relato de una línea, Tsonami Editorial, Residencia B.A.S.E. Tsonami Arte Sonoro, Valparaíso, Chile

2021
Fast Food Pattern; Fast Search Engine, Unusual Encounters with Food, Food &, Berlin, Germany

2020
trash poems, La Granja Editorial, Madrid, Spain
Afluentes, Proyecto Genoma Poético, LetraLAB, Madrid, Spain
Sileto, Trépano #2, Ojos de Sol Editorial, Madrid, Spain

2019
“Haiku” Trépano #1, Ojos de Sol Editorial, Madrid, Spain
“Sherwin” Guacamayo #7, Ojos de Sol Editorial, Madrid, Spain
“Dear Marcel” THE EYE Vol. 10 Issue 1, San Francisco, CA, USA
“Una calle madrileña” THE EYE, Vol. 10, Issue 1, San Francisco, CA, USA “Frito Lay” Food and losers, food &, Berlin, Germany
Guacamayo #5, Ojos de Sol Editorial, Madrid, Spain

2018
“Boom!” Food and nuclear war, food &, Berlin, Germany



EDITOR

2020
THE EYE, Vol 10, Issue 2, San Francisco, CA.  ︎
2019
THE EYE, Vol 10, Issue  1, San Francisco, CA.
2018-2017

Me llamaron Blanca, y me he acostumbrado a contestar a esos sonidos. Me gustan los objetos punzantes y los ruidos chiquininos. Hablo en inglés pero sudo en español. Me da miedo mirarme las manos por si un día no las reconozco.

They named me Blanca, and I have accustomed myself to answering such sounds. I like sharp objects and tiny noises. I speak in English but I sweat in Spanish. I'm terrified to look at my hands in case one day I find them old.