Solo explores the artistic object as a device for engaging with place. With this project, I experiment with an expansion of my work from the stage into the realm of installation, involving sculptural, architectural, and performative elements.
The title alludes, ambiguously, to a relationship with the ground (solo in Portuguese), the surface upon which most of our activities take place, whose materiality constantly interferes with our bodies and their relation to space, architecture, and place. The ground, whose expression varies from site to site, is omnipresent — a fundamental element of human life, but also a boundary surface that conceals a subterranean, visceral, subconscious interior.
A concrete block is slowly dragged through the gallery space, audibly revealing the textures, imperfections, densities, and micro-configurations of the concrete floor. The sound of this friction is amplified, transformed, and diffused through loudspeakers positioned in dialogue with a line of force that establishes a specific relationship with the room. In the resistance offered by the ground to the block’s movement, it is friction that becomes audible. But the ground is not merely an instrument: the friction is an almost-inscription, an almost-recording, and simultaneously, a (re)production.
The title Solo also suggests a performative mode — a solo act. This possibility tilts the piece towards the domain of performance, transforming the dragging object into a kind of performer: present, alive. In this way, the installation assumes a performative dimension, unfolding as a cyclical event that is repeatedly reinitiated, with a duration shaped by the room’s dimensions.
First presentation – Galeria Diferença (July 2025)
The installation was part of a concert on the 29th July 2025, with Maria do Mar (violin) and Nuno Torres (sax).
Future presentations:
- Festival Som Desorganizado, Sonoscopia, Porto (December 2025)
- Fábrica da Criatividade, Castelo Branco (February 2026)
- Academia Internacional de Marvão (July 2026)