N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A,
a blog about photography by Sofia Silva
image caption (above): © Margarida Gouveia, Beautiful People #1, poster for Propeller #3 – Propaganda, 2019. More of Margarida’s recent work can be seen here. These black-and-white photographs constitute an imaginary that calls to mind scientific and forensic photography. They are imbued with a sense of strangeness and of a hygienic and strictly functional world in…
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image caption (above): © Soraya Vasconcelos, untitled, digital c-print, 122×163 cm, 2007. More of Soraya’s recent work can be seen here. Models of “territories” are constructed with organic matter and inorganic material: paint, pigments, varnishes, wax, plaster… There is a process of constructionIs it possible to formulate a general theory of artistic collaboration? And…
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How does art critic work in other countries? I don’t know. In Portugal, it’s changing. The online magazines and blogs have created platforms where different people write about art and publish critics on exhibitions, publications and short stories on art events overall. So yes, there’s a lot more time spent of the activity of writing…
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All that is to know about Aleksandra Vajd’s project “Friends of friends are friends” (featured below) can be find in a text by Laura Amann, here. I see, I smell, I feel and hear these photographs reaching me. In Laura Amann’s words: The abstract nature requires us to focus on the process, materiality and technique.…
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Most of us will agree on one thing: this year’s WWP winning photograph is not their typical choice. But that’s it! The consequences of this choice are as multilayered as the photograph itself. One of the first persons to speak openly about why this photograph “should not have won such a prize” was the chairman of the…
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John Brill, Self-portrait, Chihuanhuan Desert, Mexico,1987 (1987-A), printed 2013 Pigment print on rag, with UV-shielding varnish. John Brill, Trish, 2013. Still from video. VHS tape; eight hours. Every Boy’s Dream, 2013. Installation views. “John Brill’s faux spirit-photographs are enough to make you believe in ghosts, extraterrestrials and visitations of all kinds. Mr. Brill, who is…
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© Sam Durant, White Mirrors, from the project Scenes from the Pilgrim Story: Myths, Massacres and Monuments, 2006. Inkjet print, 42 x 36 inches. © Sam Durant, Natural History Part II, from the project Scenes from the Pilgrim Story: Myths, Massacres and Monuments, 2007. Mixed media; Dimensions vary; Photo credit: Scott Massey. excerpt of THOSE…
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all images © Isaac Pereira. Courtesy of the artist. This conversation took place in July 2014, over the virtual space that unites Macau and Lisboa. The original, portuguese version, of this conversation, can be seen HERE. Sofia: We’re having this conversation mainly because of your exhibition, Tree, now held in Macau. Although I couldn’t be…
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Part I of essay here © Duarte Amaral Netto, Ambient 4 (#3 e #5), 2004 48×130 cm. Lambda Print on Fuji Fine Art. Ed. 3 + 1 AP Before going on to explore Duarte’s recent exhibitions – The Polish Club Case (2011), Z (2012) and Selective Affinities (2013) – I’d like to take a brief…
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caption (above): Susan Hiller, Sisters of Menon, 1972 -79. 4 L-shaped panels of automatic writing, blue pencil on A4 paper with typed labels Susan Hiller, Dedicated to the Unknown Artists, 1972-76. Installation view, Tate Britain, London. «In fact, Hiller herself has commented that what her archive includes are moments missed, fleeting encounters with a movement…
Read MoreMichel Jaffrennou and Thierry Coduys, Demon Demos: The Phantom Public, 2005. The work tracks and creates schematic representations of the behavior of visitors to a given space, in this case the Making Things Public galleries. “Katti: Bruno Latour recently cocurated his second show at the ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, or Center for Art…
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© Endre Tót, ZEROPOST, Stamps, signed and dated, 1976 © Endre Tót, in the spirit of Marcel Duchamp, 1987 © Endre Tót, if I look to the right: right rain / if I look to the left: left rain, 1973 © Endre Tót, Outdoor Texts, 1980 © Endre Tót, Hopes in the Nothing (Six outdoor…
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© Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus D’Aspremont, 2012 / photo by Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk © Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus D’Aspremont, 2012 / photo by Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk “I came up with a method using temperature controllers, moisture and backlighting. It took a while but I eventually got the hang of it. It’s not really a particular high tech…
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© Irena Lagator Pejović, Resistence Reservoir, 2012. Equation in english, montenegrin and german written on an ex Mazut (fuel oil) reservoir @ garden of the Ministry of Culture, public project for Cetinje, Montenegro © Irena Lagator Pejović, Knowledge of the Limited Responsibility Society (extended), 2012. Ongoing series of original customer receipts bound in 18 books.…
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“Augustin Rebetez breathes energy in his works. He has developed a very ownable style over a very short period of time, even though this is not easy to put in a box. With a combination of free and staged photography using his immediate surroundings, he constantly surprises with his work. Augustin is not afraid to…
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“image © Ahmet Ögüt,Strategic Diagram for Non-hierarchical Participatory Radical Democracy, 2011. In: Mind the System, Find the Gap “I have no mercy or compassion in me for a society that will crush people, and then penalize them for not being able to stand up under the weight.” -Malcolm X © Ahmet Ögüt, from the project…
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© Andrea Polli, Appetite 4, installation detail, Here Space, NY, 1995 © Andrea Polli, Appetite 4, detail from installation WWW site showing a studio photograph of objects on a plate, 1995 “Research into the concept of appetite led me to consider my personal appetite for possessions. It became clear to me that I (like many…
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© Hanne Darboven, Kulturgeschichte 1880-1983 (Cultural History 1880-1983), 1980-83. Installation view at Dia:Beacon, Beacon, New York. Lannan Foundation Bill Carke: You first saw Cultural History in 1996 at the Dia Art Foundation’s Chelsea space. Can you recall what your response to the work was back then and how it’s evolved since? Dan Adler: (Laughs) My…
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© Terike Haapoja, Anatomy of Landscape, Durational images, 2 parts, 2008 Glass, plywood, live plants, light, electronic, water, 150 cm x 90 cm x 20 cm When one stands before a landscape, two lines of thought appear. One treats the landscape as a framed fragment of our field of vision, distanced plane of forms and…
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caption (above): © João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva Terence Koh, God, 2007. View of the performance at de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich. Courtesy Peres Projects, Berlin. Installation view of Terence Koh (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, January 19–May 27, 2007). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins © Hiroshi Sugimoto, Self-portrait, 2003 © Hiroshi…
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N I H I L S E N T I M E N T A L G I A, 