The work of Santiago Sierra has been characterized by situations where survival is a fundamental element. He translates this into an artistic practice that investigates inhuman aspects of the economic system, the mechanisms of corruption and the labor exploitation of the individual. He links diverse references with reality as an exploration of a world articulated by critical discourse for the art world and its agents.
In the nineties, his projects were known for establishing systems of negotiation with third parties to carry out actions that generally occupy a public space to demonstrate the materialistic procedures related to the systemic violence of capitalism and the working conditions that are generated from it. This body of work has questioned the function of institutional structures, control over the public space, the emergence of informal architectures in the urban landscape associated with forms of survival, and the conditions of disuse and disposal not only from the point of view of the material but also as a reflection of social contrasts.