Residency and Exhibition

Drawers, Essay for a sound Installation - Armazéns Santa Clara, Porto, Portugal - 2018

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"More than half of human energy, in this case, intellectual energy, thought energy, is spent into one single action: that of organizing. to organize is to organize, is to clear the obstacles to the use of what already exists: is to make effective the use of the past; in a way it is to direct what has already been thought, what has already been done, what has already been said; and to direct means to say with actions: this goes here, that goes there."

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Gonçalo M. Tavares in Atlas do Corpo e da Imaginação

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Created in collaboration the local community of Santa Clara, Porto. Embedded in the mother project 2nd Chance - Waking up the sleeping giant, the work explores memory, displacement, and transformation through sound and matter. Inspired by Gonçalo M. Tavares’ reflection on organisation and the use of what already exists, residents, who were facing eviction due to growing local tourism and real estate speculation, were invited to share a personal objects hidden in their drawers at their choice and with the condition of also telling their respective stories. These objects were then frozen inside metal drawers using water from the Douro River and suspended in the air by a single sisal rope. The melting ice water drops trigger musical drone notes and the resident's stories, creating a new soundscape which is a collective act of resistance and care.

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Credits:

Photography and Research by Soraia Pinheiro

Sound and Research by Nuno Mendoza

Commissioned by Porto Lazer and Porto Vivo

Sponsored by Câmara Municipal do Porto