Precarious Forms in an Unstable Arrangement

Precarious Forms in an Unstable Arrangement (the Reverse of the Symbols: Value / Time / Representation), 2014-2015
Carbon steel, sumauma plywood, silicone rubber, automotive paint, 20 cents cruzeiro coin (1977). Dimensions: 87,5 x 80 x 70 cm

What may seem like a sculptural base is actually the form of the logo of the Petrobras company (1970s), which is embodied through materials, shapes and colors, making reference to the cycles of expansion and growth deposited in the company. The ‘grey BR’ which gives color to the steel-based is a standard color and commercial from the company; the sumauma plywood (from Amazon origins) refers to the exploitation of natural resources. To form the central diamond is necessary that each of the logo’s arrows point to opposite sides (and we could read such opposition in broader ways: between raw material and industry or nature and culture, for example). In the center, the diamond is filled with black silicone rubber, a clear allusion to both the oil as the diamond of the Brazilian national flag. Encrusted in the center of this piece, there is a 20 cents ‘cruzeiro’ coin (1977), the only one with a commemorative picture of the oil industry. Today, out of circulation, that coin no longer has real value, it became a relic of the past, a commemorative piece whose function lies only in the fact that it is a historic device, of memory and representation.

Exhibited at:
Contract of Risk, at Luisa Strina’s Gallery, 2015.