Reflection by Dora Garcia and Us on 100 Impossible Pieces of Art
Sometimes, something or someone makes your heart leap!
Art is meant to do this to you—whether gently, subtly, or with force and excitement. It’s designed to spark emotions and energise your heart—or, as I call it, your emotional centre.
I’ve always believed that art is best experienced with the heart rather than just the brain.
The brain may analyse and calculate what it sees, but the heart feels it more intuitively and emotionally.
That said, the work of the artist Dora García changed my perspective. Her art invites both the heart and brain to work together, creating a unique experience that makes you think as much as you feel.
Dora García’s art does not consist of just traditional paintings or sculptures. Instead, she crafts her pieces using written words, stories, quotes, and other creative methods. Her work creates “scripted situations”—natural, abstract, surreal, philosophical ideas or scenarios within real-life contexts.
These situations can surprise, disrupt, or even take control of the moment, drawing you into something entirely unexpected, pleasant or shocking!
For example, in November 2024, while visiting my birthplace, Strasbourg, I encountered one of her most thought-provoking works, 100 Œuvres d’Art Impossibles (100 Impossible Pieces of Art), at the Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain.
This piece wasn’t a painting on a wall—it was a list. On a gallery wall, García had written 100 ideas for artworks that could never be realised.
These “impossible pieces” could never exist in the real world, yet reading about them made you imagine what they might look or feel like in reality.
At a glimpse, the simplicity of the list struck me, but its meaning became much more profound. It made me think about the impossible things in lifegoals, experiences, or ideas we can only dream of but never achieve.
It was a powerful reminder of how art can inspire us to reflect on our lives and limitations in surprising, entertaining, and sometimes even shocking ways.
What I loved most was how García’s work played with both emotion and intellect.
First, the words on the wall caught my attention and made me feel something—joy, curiosity, shock (sometimes horror) and even wonder.
Then, as I considered their meaning more, I felt challenged to interpret the ideas, like solving a puzzle. This combination of feeling and thinking is what makes this piece so unique.
I wanted to share this with you because her work is a powerful way to meditate and reflect on our lives and the things we may miss. It reminds us that even impossible ideas have value—they give us a glimpse into something we can only imagine.
And isn’t that what art does best?
How to meditate with this piece?
Treat each sentence and idea as the subject of a meditation or a reflection on memory or something that you always thought about– here is how I am practising with this piece of art:
I speed-read the piece first to understand its concept.
I stopped and focused on the sentences that surprised me and made me react the most.
Some became the centre of my reflection, allowing my emotions and feelings to flow without self-judgement. It might take a few seconds to…
I set aside the sentences that made me feel uncomfortable.
Later, I revisited those sentences, and if they still made me feel uncomfortable, I set them aside again.
Don’t dwell too much on the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the sentences—embrace the idea and concept and let them sink into your heart. Then, wait for its response.
Feel ready to do this meditation. You will receive an emotional response that might cause you to leave your comfort zone. Take your time.
Sometimes, you will feel playful, melancholy, tears, pleasure, and a smile on your lips, so enjoy!
The Piece
100 Œuvres d’Art Impossibles - 100 Impossible Pieces of Art by Doria Garcia
*Please note I kept the text below in French based on the original piece. I translated this text myself from French into English. Therefore, the translation may not reflect the exact English words or sentences the artist might have chosen. However, I did my best to convey the meaning of each sentence and the essence of every word.
Also, the artist deliberately left two sentences out of that list, and I don’t know why; I might need to contact her and ask one day!
I leave you to guess which ones!
1 – vivre la vie de quelqu’un d’autre.Live someone else’s life.
2 – faire les rêves de quelqu’un d’autreDream someone else’s dreams.
3 – ne pas mourirNot die.
4 – être, au moins l’espace d’une seconde, auprès de tous les êtreshumains sans exceptionBe, at least for a second, with all human beings without exception.
5 – noter tous leurs nomsNote down all their names.
6 – être dans plusieurs lieux à la foisBe in several places at once.
7 – choisir ses rêves à l’avanceChoose your dreams in advance.
8 – raconter toutes les histoires du mondeTell all the stories in the world.
9 – diriger entièrement une autre personneFully control another person.
10 – ressusciter au moins partiellementPartially resurrect.
11 – mourir plusieurs foisDie several times
12 – vivre plusieurs viesLive several lives.
13 – connaître tous les points de fuite, avec leurs points de départ et d’arrivéeKnow all vanishing points, with their starting and ending points.
14 – occuper physiquement l’espace de quelqu’un d’autrePhysically occupying someone else’s space.
15 – partager des hallucinationsShare with others our hallucinations.
16 – revivre son enfanceRelive your childhood
17 – exclure une couleur du champ de la perception humaineExclude a colour from the field of human perception.
19 – trouver son doubleFind your double and live with them.
20 – voyager dans le tempsTime travel.
21 - revenir en arrière et essayer de rajeunir ainsiGo back in time and try to grow younger.
22 – entendre uniquement les sons émis par son propre corpsHear only the sounds emitted by your own body.
23 – être seul(e), mais vraiment seul(e) au mondeBe truly alone in the world.
24 – intervertir les sexesReverse the sexes.
25 – rejouer indéfiniment la même scène devant un public qui vieillit et finit par mourirRe-enact the same scene indefinitely before an ageing audience that eventually dies.
26 – limiter le nombre des questions et des réponsesLimit the number of questions and answers.
27 – voler dans les airs ou se déplacer à grande vitesseFly through the air or move at great speed.
28 – savoir la véritéKnow the truth.
29 – vivre sous terre définitivementLive underground permanently.
30 – savoir exactement combien de fois quelqu’un a pleuréKnow exactly how many times someone has cried.
31 – terminer l’œuvre inachevée de quelqu’unFinish someone’s unfinished work.
32 – simuler toutes les émotionsHiding all emotions.
33 – tout oublierForget everything.
34 – tout se rappelerRemember everything.
35 – conférer la vie à l’inaniméGive life to the inanimate.
36 – accélérer le temps à volontéSpeed time at will.
37 – prédire l’avenirPredict and read the future.
38 – lire les penséesRead thoughts.
39 – effacer certains événements passésErase certain past events.
40 – empêcher certains événements futursPrevent certain future events.
41 – multiplier la lumière du soleilMultiply the light of the sun.
42 – faire des réserves de souffleStore reserves of breath and respiration.
43 – être aimé(e) de tout le mondeBe loved by everyone.
45 – combler un abîmeFill a void.
46– remplacer tous les livres par leur reflet dans la glaceReplace all books with their reflections in the mirror.
47 – assister à la fin du mondeWitness the end of the world.
48– sauter un jourSkip a day.
49– mettre le même texte dans tous les livresWrite the same exact text in all books.
50 – changer le nom d’une grande villeRename a significant city.
51 – changer les noms de tous ses habitantsRename all its inhabitants.
52 – transpirer de l’orSweat gold.
53 – créer des automates capables de penserCreate robots capable of thinking.
54 – tout voirSee everything.
55 – assister au commencement du mondeWitness the beginning of the world.
56 – toucher le tempsTouch time.
57 – user un corps humain par le toucherWear out a human body by touching it constantly.
58 – voir simultanément plusieurs événements consécutifsSimultaneously, see several consecutive events.
59 – voir son propre visageLook at your own face.
60 – être seul(e) à voir au royaume des aveuglesBe the only one to see in the kingdom of the blind.
61 – évoluer dans une autre dimensionMove to another dimension.
62 – arrêter de dormirStop sleeping.
63 – dormir sans arrêtSleep endlessly.
64– vivre avec un fantômeLive with a ghost.
65 – ressentir la douleur de quelqu’un d’autreFeel someone else’s pain.
66 – dominer totalement ses émotionsCompletely control your emotions.
67 – voir l’âme humaineSee the human soul.
68 – synchroniser toutes les respirationsSynchronise all breathing.
69 – annuler une décision irréversibleUndo an irreversible decision.
70 – faire comme si la mort n’existait pasAct as if death does not exist.
71- Etre identique a quelqu’un d’autreBe identical to someone else.
72 – écouter toutes les conversationsListen to all conversations.
73 – être derrière et devant la porteBe behind and in front of the door.
74 – réprimer les battements de paupièresSuppress the blinking of your eyes.
75 – éliminer les souvenirs à volontéErase memories at will.
76 – ne plus bougerStay completely still.
77 – enrayer le vieillissementHalt ageing.
78 – devenir transparent(e)Become invisible.
79 – bâtir un espace infiniBuild an infinite space.
80 – remplacer le jour par la nuitReplace day with night.
81 – inverser les hiérarchiesReverse the hierarchies.
82 – changer le sens des motsChange the meaning of words.
83 – traverser les mursWalk through walls.
84 – se réincarner plusieurs fois très viteReincarnate multiple times quickly.
85 – se rappeler les positions adoptées par le corps pendant le sommeilRecall body positions adopted during sleep.
86 – créer des barrières invisibles mais infranchissablesCreate invisible but impassable barriers.
87 – repousser les limites du corps humainChanging the limits of the human body.
88 – moduler la fidélité des miroirsAdjust the fidelity and reflection of mirrors.
89 – recommencer sa vie à zéroStart your life over from zero.
90 – vivre de l’autre côtéLive on the other side.
91 – alterner à volonté entre folie et raisonAlternate freely between madness and reason.
92 – changer de sexe et d’âge à volontéChange gender and age at will.
93 – regarder à travers les yeux de quelqu’unSee the world through someone else’s eyes.
94 – vivre sous hypnoseLive under hypnosis.
95 – composer la bande-son de la vie de quelqu’unCompose the soundtrack of someone’s life.
96 – persuader une personne qu’elle est morte en réalitéConvince someone they are dead in reality.
97 – refaire les rêves de la veilleRedream the dreams of the previous night.
98 – faire une chute sans finExperience a never-ending fall.
99 – photographier chaque instant de sa viePhotograph every instant of your life.
100 – rienNothing.