10 March 2018 16:30 - 19:30
ONE SHOT
Enter the room.
Pick-up the camera.
I am your object.
Take one shot.
Place it on the floor, at my feet.
Watch it develop.
Exit the room.
You have up to 3 mins.
Performance Score Carolina Pimenta 2017
“ONE SHOT must take place in a neutral space. Mobiles aren't allowed and only one viewer can enter the room at a time. In the room, there is a Polaroid camera and the artist. The viewer is invited to take a photograph, place it on the ground, and observe the result. The total time allowed inside is 3 minutes.”
The exhibition will be presented during one-day only as the result of the performance ONE SHOT, that took place in the same location, Rua das Gaivotas 6 on March 10th 2018, along side with the artist’s book that originated the whole project.
ONE SHOT by Carolina Pimenta appears as a natural extension of her photography work and introduces the central concerns of her artistic practice, namely, a deep interest in identity, representation and perception, and how these can be as volatile and ephemeral given the inherent singularity to which they are subjected to.
Fruit of the necessity to break limits and based on the research for the artist’s book, the artist creates a situation of apparent control, giving explicit instructions to the visitor. This exercise explores the boundaries between narrative space and the private sphere - in a search for self, where the body is the critical vehicle and the surface of creation. Here, this body presents itself as the center of the plot, in it, the action unfolds and invites new glances. Is it a body or an object? Not fragile, but naked. In its essence, the word naked presupposes vulnerability, lack of protection or disguise. Nude, in turn, can be associated with a broad process of self-image celebration. In this case, despite apparent transparency in exposing their nudity, there is a provocation between the observer and the observed, in a frontal display, without filters or corrections, but also without judgments. One visitor at a time has access to this inner world, too private to be a simple voyeur. Through the lens, a visual record of the moment is defined, thus allowing the artist to confront her own reflection. However, this distorted optics of others also allows for a level of precision beyond any mirror: a portrait that could not have been imagined without the unconscious aid of friends, acquaintances or strangers culminating in the joint construction of a fragmented, compound self. A space designed for the face-to-face to happen, and all the interactions or discomfort that can follow.
ONE SHOT incorporates this deconstruction where the various layers, or pieces of clothing, are not on the floor but could be. As for the piece everything has been removed and in its place is only a photograph, a fraction of that experience, without the possibility of editing or manipulation... This clear desire for self-representation and unfolding evokes the symbolism of artists such as Marina Abramović, the works of Joan Jonas and Carolee Schneemann, but distances itself by the latent subtext that refers to the clear obsession, in the era of digital culture, of the image and consequent perception. There is often a distorted perception of ourselves and of the other around us. This need to feed in real time the dissemination of the image itself (through selfies, nudes or other editing applications that allow correcting eventual facial imperfections) and seek instant validation, seems to be not only generalised but trivialised. The omnipresence of social networks empowers the creation of imaginary identities, of fragile foundations that fluctuate be- tween the illusory and the ephemeral, and structurally alter the way we perceive reality around us.
These contradictory states of representations of the social world are addressed in a raw form by Carolina Pimenta. To this extent, the body presented here bears not only this symbolism, but also the memory of a structure built up over time by women who fought for emancipation, opening space for multiple readings.
In the end, it is a moment of introspection to reflect on the impact and reverberation of each of our smallest gestures and imminent persuasion for instant-virtual success. Can we become what we stand for? Is our existence dependent on the presence of our image, or a virtual identity? The moment we are faced with the possibility of only framing one reality, what are we going to shoot?
- Carolina Trigueiros, 2017
Result: 56 viewers, total of 240min
See also:
Installation views of One Shot & Artist book
