Untitled for C, Rising series
installation
2024
Imagine a ship, suspended above the water, adorned with a multitude of mirrors. It appears to float, levitating just above the surface. This vessel embodies the complexities of contemporaneity—an enigmatic space for reflection as we confront the abyss.
For a little over six hours, the scene remains tranquil, punctuated only by the gently rising tide of the Tagus River, inching ever closer to the house-like structure and the hammock. Again and again, the water rises, creating an infinite cycle of anticipation. Will it reach the suspended ship?
Or, can we summon the ability to make the waters recede, like a falling tide? Can we journey from the blurriness of darkness into the clarity of light? Is there still a path forward? Receding waters, unceasingly?
Could this ship serve as a metaphor for our somewhat nonchalant engagement with contemporary dynamics, from the Anthropocene to the Climate Crisis—most notably, the rising sea levels?
This vessel is no easy entity to navigate; perhaps this is why it reminds us of the words of Mário Cesariny: “When it reaches the city, / no pier will shelter it.” “Voices and a heavy air / is all it carries.” “Until the end of the world.” (O navio de espelhos, 1965).
