Artist, filmmaker, film editor
📍Lisbon, Portugal
Films
Other work
Writing
Editing
About
Artist, filmmaker, film editor
📍Lisbon, Portugal
Films
Other work
Writing
Editing
About
Portrait Of A Displaced Bicycle
This piece was made in the context of the Experimental Laboratory of Contemporary Art “Em Obras”, promoted by Zaratan - Arte Contemporânea in Lisbon. It was shown in the group exhibition “Em Obras” at Zaratan’s gallery.
Short description in the flyer:
This bike marks the most visible change that happened to me after living in Belgium. “Le plat pays”, Jacques Brel called it. There, he said it was necessary to forgive the gray sky. Here, in Lisbon, maybe it’s the hills.
This piece originated from a proposal by Pedro Gramaxo to think of a place where we had been, that somehow was important for us. I chose Belgium, the country where I lived for three years and gained my independence for the first time.
We then had to bring to Zaratan an artifact that would represent that place. I chose the bicycle I bought in Lisbon, after acquiring the habit of moving around by bicycle (something more common in Ghent, where I first lived).
Then, we had to create a piece based on that object. I used the dyanmo light of the bicycle to create a lamp that would illuminate photos of it. On the back of the photos, I wrote memories of my time in Belgium, that are related to the use of the bicycle. These memories, each in their own way, changed me.
Orange Tree Altar
Orange Tree Altar is a multimedia installation developped in residency at Alfaia Association in the beginning of 2024.
The Altar is a place where one can pause and reflect. It was made in the region of Algarve, in the south of Portugal. I’ve always had a deep connection with the Algarve, but solely as a tourist, as I have spent vacations there every year of my life. Orange juice made with “Algarve oranges” marked my memories of childhood and of that dear place. During the residency in Loulé, I came in contact with the region in a different manner and realised that I only had a superficial perspective on it. In fact, the “Algarve oranges” that I thought were so authentic were perhaps just a marketing strategy. I learned that it is a common practice to let dry entire tree plantations and burn them, usually in order to replace them by another species. Bewildered by this change of perspective, I decided to plant an orange tree in my family’s small vacation home - but before, it was to be present in the installation. In the Altar, we can admire the baby orange tree, which is being lit by sunlight coming from a hole in the ceiling - the light being directed by a rice paper structure I built with some help. At the same time, two videos and sounds create a relaxed mood of darkness, and a burned orange sits on the wall like an end point.
1. Orange monoculture plantations (one with oranges, another one drying)
2 channel HD video, color, stereo sound, loop
2. Orange found in the middle of ashes, next to an orange tree plantation
Burned orange, 5cm x 6cm
Mono sound, looped
3. Untitled
Orange tree in clay vase, variable dimensions
Rice paper lighting structure, 100cm x 50cm
Thank you:
Luísa Ramires
Salomón Pérez
Inês Lima
Marcelo Tavares
Erro Rasker
Matilde Cappelletti
Support:
Associação Alfaia
Câmara Municipal de Loulé