Casting a Sounding Voice
In "Casting a Sounding Voice," the relationship between voice, touch, and its visible mark is explored, with a special focus on the human voice as integrated into the “voice” of materials, or matter. The title serves as the central element that unites many of the semantic derivations present here. "Casting a Sounding Voice" encompasses the voice in its broadest sense, as sound emitted for the purpose of communication or contact, unfolding into the imprint of sound in audible expression and the sound translation in the molding of matrices to be cast into metal pieces. The underlying premise is to reveal how continuous touch, as a form of contact that exists in all matter, emits sounds, plural voices, which vary in terms of perception, both auditory, visual, and tactile. These pieces can be framed with the intention of “decolonizing listening,” as part of a cultural decolonization process — a process that implies broadening our recognition of sonic and vocal diversity, as well as a perceptual adjustment that allows for a particular, attentive, conscious, and ethical listening. Through this purpose, questions are raised about which voices and sounds have been historically subordinated and marginalized, as well as who or what has been silenced, and which voices, in turn, have been allowed to resonate.
The choice of bronze, a material extracted from the ground, is symbolic and represents the memory not only of humanity but also of the Earth, predating human presence. Bronze was chosen to highlight the heritage we received from the industrialization era, during which the mechanical view of the world prevailed. It was within this mechanistic vision that the more intensive exploitation of natural resources was founded, dividing the world between nature and culture, with nature being seen as inert, passive, and silenced to serve human culture. Bronze in these pieces is not merely an aesthetic choice that could pass through the fetishization of its value as a noble material, but also a symbolic representation of this historical context and the critique of extractive culture, which applies not only to raw materials used in energy (whether fossil or so-called “clean”) but also extends to our bodies within a capitalist system.
Burning the Word — and Other Fires
In this textile piece, the “voice” of Ana Luísa Amaral (1956–2022), poet, feminist, and queer theorist, is articulated while still audible and resonant, both in the archives of Antena 2 radio — in the program she maintained titled "The Sound That Verses Make Upon Opening," which opened with the recitation of a poem by the American poet Emily Dickinson: “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold / No fire can ever warm me / I know that is poetry” — and through her essays, especially those found in the book "Burning the Word — and Other Fires." In this book, Ana Luísa Amaral explores the presence of the body in literature, using fire as a symbol of the desire for contact, as if behind all literature there is always a body seeking others. Thus, if in these essays the author reflects on materialities, presence and disappearance, the real and the imaginary, fire also appears as a disruptive element and instigator of change, marking a shift in structural paradigms, to accommodate embodied perspectives, based on sensations, emotions, and physiological nature. The choice of a traditional textile technique from the Beiriz area, evident in the creation of the “picture-rug,” serves to highlight the etymological crossing of the word textile with text, translating the voice that expresses and asserts itself in writing into a new visuality.
The Theater of Plants
The micro-narratives of "The Theater of Plants" stem from biographical data of Aurélia de Souza and fictionalized observations and recommendations exchanged over extensive generations between mothers and daughters, sisters, and daughters who become "mothers," in a familial theater of mutual care, recreated beyond linear kinship. In the collection, an attempt has been made to give literary representation to what is commonly considered insignificant (with little or devalued meaning), registering the familiarity of exchanged gestures and the relationships of complicity established between humans and animals, plants, the sea, and the river, thereby complexifying the sense of coexistence. In contrast to the brevity of what is heard, images of a ceramic panel, composed of various gardens of the city of Porto, are projected at a slow pace, interrupting expectations of common time experience and holding attention in the moment. For this composition, Kali/João Leonardo/PASSARUMACACO created a sound environment, structured from the natural elements implicit in the narratives.
The project "The Theater of Plants," publicly presented in 2023 — initially as a performance in February at the National Museum of Soares dos Reis and later in video format in July during the residency at Performing the Archive — evolved through a process of exploring the artist's own voice. This exploration involved repeated rehearsals to the point of exhaustion, conducted in a studio environment. The project expanded to analyze the complex relationship of being, at first, simultaneously the emitter and receiver of the voice, recognizing particular characteristics, patterns, and imperfections in that voice, and possibly even a certain charm, with the purpose of shaping it and making it suitable for public expression. This phenomenon of estrangement, caused by the discrepancy between the internal voice, which is conducted inside the body by soft tissues and bones, and the already externalized voice, outside the body, was explored with the aid of vocal recording equipment. Additionally, the written voice also intertwines here with the writing of a series of brief interconnected stories that evoke the garden depicted in the painting titled "In the Shade" (n.d.), by the artist Aurélia de Souza. In this third presentation of "The Theater of Plants," the English translation was also included, representing a remarkable challenge in itself, along with a series of plaster sculptures. These sculptures were created based on stimuli drawn from the recited narratives.
In "Casting a Sounding Voice," the relationship between voice, touch, and its visible mark is explored, with a special focus on the human voice as integrated into the “voice” of materials, or matter. The title serves as the central element that unites many of the semantic derivations present here. "Casting a Sounding Voice" encompasses the voice in its broadest sense, as sound emitted for the purpose of communication or contact, unfolding into the imprint of sound in audible expression and the sound translation in the molding of matrices to be cast into metal pieces. The underlying premise is to reveal how continuous touch, as a form of contact that exists in all matter, emits sounds, plural voices, which vary in terms of perception, both auditory, visual, and tactile. These pieces can be framed with the intention of “decolonizing listening,” as part of a cultural decolonization process — a process that implies broadening our recognition of sonic and vocal diversity, as well as a perceptual adjustment that allows for a particular, attentive, conscious, and ethical listening. Through this purpose, questions are raised about which voices and sounds have been historically subordinated and marginalized, as well as who or what has been silenced, and which voices, in turn, have been allowed to resonate.
The choice of bronze, a material extracted from the ground, is symbolic and represents the memory not only of humanity but also of the Earth, predating human presence. Bronze was chosen to highlight the heritage we received from the industrialization era, during which the mechanical view of the world prevailed. It was within this mechanistic vision that the more intensive exploitation of natural resources was founded, dividing the world between nature and culture, with nature being seen as inert, passive, and silenced to serve human culture. Bronze in these pieces is not merely an aesthetic choice that could pass through the fetishization of its value as a noble material, but also a symbolic representation of this historical context and the critique of extractive culture, which applies not only to raw materials used in energy (whether fossil or so-called “clean”) but also extends to our bodies within a capitalist system.
Burning the Word — and Other Fires
In this textile piece, the “voice” of Ana Luísa Amaral (1956–2022), poet, feminist, and queer theorist, is articulated while still audible and resonant, both in the archives of Antena 2 radio — in the program she maintained titled "The Sound That Verses Make Upon Opening," which opened with the recitation of a poem by the American poet Emily Dickinson: “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold / No fire can ever warm me / I know that is poetry” — and through her essays, especially those found in the book "Burning the Word — and Other Fires." In this book, Ana Luísa Amaral explores the presence of the body in literature, using fire as a symbol of the desire for contact, as if behind all literature there is always a body seeking others. Thus, if in these essays the author reflects on materialities, presence and disappearance, the real and the imaginary, fire also appears as a disruptive element and instigator of change, marking a shift in structural paradigms, to accommodate embodied perspectives, based on sensations, emotions, and physiological nature. The choice of a traditional textile technique from the Beiriz area, evident in the creation of the “picture-rug,” serves to highlight the etymological crossing of the word textile with text, translating the voice that expresses and asserts itself in writing into a new visuality.
The Theater of Plants
The micro-narratives of "The Theater of Plants" stem from biographical data of Aurélia de Souza and fictionalized observations and recommendations exchanged over extensive generations between mothers and daughters, sisters, and daughters who become "mothers," in a familial theater of mutual care, recreated beyond linear kinship. In the collection, an attempt has been made to give literary representation to what is commonly considered insignificant (with little or devalued meaning), registering the familiarity of exchanged gestures and the relationships of complicity established between humans and animals, plants, the sea, and the river, thereby complexifying the sense of coexistence. In contrast to the brevity of what is heard, images of a ceramic panel, composed of various gardens of the city of Porto, are projected at a slow pace, interrupting expectations of common time experience and holding attention in the moment. For this composition, Kali/João Leonardo/PASSARUMACACO created a sound environment, structured from the natural elements implicit in the narratives.
The project "The Theater of Plants," publicly presented in 2023 — initially as a performance in February at the National Museum of Soares dos Reis and later in video format in July during the residency at Performing the Archive — evolved through a process of exploring the artist's own voice. This exploration involved repeated rehearsals to the point of exhaustion, conducted in a studio environment. The project expanded to analyze the complex relationship of being, at first, simultaneously the emitter and receiver of the voice, recognizing particular characteristics, patterns, and imperfections in that voice, and possibly even a certain charm, with the purpose of shaping it and making it suitable for public expression. This phenomenon of estrangement, caused by the discrepancy between the internal voice, which is conducted inside the body by soft tissues and bones, and the already externalized voice, outside the body, was explored with the aid of vocal recording equipment. Additionally, the written voice also intertwines here with the writing of a series of brief interconnected stories that evoke the garden depicted in the painting titled "In the Shade" (n.d.), by the artist Aurélia de Souza. In this third presentation of "The Theater of Plants," the English translation was also included, representing a remarkable challenge in itself, along with a series of plaster sculptures. These sculptures were created based on stimuli drawn from the recited narratives.