https://leticiaramos.art Letícia Ramos Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:41:52 +0000 https://leticiaramos.art en https://leticiaramos.art/STUDIO-VISIT Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:41:52 +0000 Letícia Ramos https://leticiaramos.art/STUDIO-VISIT Studio Visit, 2024 FILM CREDITS Direct by - Leticia Ramos Cinematography - Diego Garc Second Unit - Leticia Ramos Editor -Juliana Munhoz Color Grading - Julia Bisiliat Post Production - Felipe Manoel Production / Studio meneger - Ana Claudia Rocha Camera Assistent - Celina Filgueiras Sound FXS - Ricardo Reis - Effects Estudio Key Grip - Edi Telles Produced by @leticiaramos.studio @mendeswooddm https://leticiaramos.art/HOME Tue, 14 Apr 2020 12:13:03 +0000 Letícia Ramos https://leticiaramos.art/HOME <img width="1059" height="725" width_o="1059" height_o="725" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9d701a4f5e28179e7192b463f146b50174901cb14fe45cac8073daaf686744da/-Leticia-Ramos6.jpg" data-mid="81831719" border="0" 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data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6f5cc67609c1d9bb7820af63a0ee0547cbef7d1a68a81e7c9d542d387456a863/2.png" data-mid="250987807" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6f5cc67609c1d9bb7820af63a0ee0547cbef7d1a68a81e7c9d542d387456a863/2.png" /> <img width="2165" height="2400" width_o="2165" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/eac1a717bdbc4d6a28f1ef6556e90ff23568be1d61ba63c4522c9d1eea54f279/estalo.png" data-mid="250987814" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/eac1a717bdbc4d6a28f1ef6556e90ff23568be1d61ba63c4522c9d1eea54f279/estalo.png" /> <img width="2400" height="1600" width_o="2400" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e3df4271e075289f8e5525f04d2bf36bbad7cdceb6d087d3413f61141b7882fc/3.png" data-mid="250987806" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e3df4271e075289f8e5525f04d2bf36bbad7cdceb6d087d3413f61141b7882fc/3.png" /> <img width="2400" height="1252" width_o="2400" 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height="1600" width_o="2400" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/45deaa4a2c6691ffc34afcc06f863a32d521e3e8c6e33bb8300202b99fa7646e/5.png" data-mid="250987804" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/45deaa4a2c6691ffc34afcc06f863a32d521e3e8c6e33bb8300202b99fa7646e/5.png" /> <img width="1974" height="2400" width_o="1974" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c1821cfbe934c9c65dcfe4ed5c6965b7f938317e1e649f02078541ab6ab678f3/risco2.png" data-mid="250987813" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c1821cfbe934c9c65dcfe4ed5c6965b7f938317e1e649f02078541ab6ab678f3/risco2.png" /> <img width="2400" height="1600" width_o="2400" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c3ecc2a7eca0ba27f9f4bb8f5768926761c200b75c7212dbb5a6659e966a3249/6.png" data-mid="250987809" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c3ecc2a7eca0ba27f9f4bb8f5768926761c200b75c7212dbb5a6659e966a3249/6.png" /> <img width="1254" height="2400" width_o="1254" height_o="2400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a639e5de5a5544503bf599609c62ed640786b2add063fcaed1ad670efff0dc3/whitenoise.png" data-mid="250987810" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a639e5de5a5544503bf599609c62ed640786b2add063fcaed1ad670efff0dc3/whitenoise.png" /> SILVER Mendes Wood DM, Casa Iramaia, São Paulo – Brazil, 2025 May 27th to August 9th, 2025 Leticia Ramos presents Silver, a body of work occupying one room at Casa Iramaia&nbsp;that investigates light’s trajectory in relation to material surfaces, landscapes, and cosmic panoramas. In these works, Ramos draws on darkroom and&nbsp;cameraless&nbsp;resources to stage an encounter between technical apparatuses and contingency, producing images that&nbsp;operate&nbsp;between spectral presence and material inscription. Luminous compositions negotiate tensions between visibility and darkness, functioning as schemas that challenge representational paradigms and reflecting the artist’s concern with the still underexplored possibilities at the intersection of art and science. Her practice unfolds through&nbsp;longterm&nbsp;projects that share a strong affinity with experimental filmmaking – in the use of material substrate, optical qualities, and an attention to duration, staging, and the sequencing of events. These investigations, articulated as interconnected series, are the outcome of meticulous experimentation and ongoing research conducted in her São Paulo studio.  Across scratched surfaces, beams of light emerge&nbsp;as intrusions or furtive subjects within the photographic field. The works elevate detailed yet elemental operations – cutting, pasting, scratching – turning them into deformations of photographic convention. Embracing the challenges of analogue processes, the artist transforms technical indeterminacy into creative potency. Ramos describes her process as “a reflection” on what happens in the studio, where each work simultaneously carries “a force” and exists “within a certain precarity of analogue special effects.” Her research treats contingency as both limitation and possibility.  “Each photograph in the exhibition is produced in a different way, but they all originate in the analog photography lab,” the artist explains. “The photosensitive paper contains&nbsp;a silver surface fixed in gelatin that covers the entire sheet. When this silver is exposed to light, it oxidizes and darkens.” The works employ diverse techniques: from Silver, with its constructed negatives forming shadow compositions, to White Noise, generated by the mathematical trajectory of a gravity driven&nbsp;light pendulum, and Riscos, which merges projection with direct intervention. These are cameraless,&nbsp;oneofakind&nbsp;photographs, constructed in a manner akin to drawing, using light and shadow to create these environments. Collectively, the works examine light’s path in both space and photography.  Thinking of her practice as “fictitious and impossible landscapes” in constant construction – literally inscribed&nbsp;through physical contact – Ramos questions the historical authority of the technical image and exposes its&nbsp;stilluntapped&nbsp;potential. Recurrent horizon motifs suggest territories that oscillate between empirical documentation and psychic projection, where methodical procedures meet the&nbsp;sometimes explosive&nbsp;force of artistic speculation. https://leticiaramos.art/INSIDE-STUDIO Sun, 17 Mar 2024 13:35:24 +0000 Letícia Ramos https://leticiaramos.art/INSIDE-STUDIO https://leticiaramos.art/solo-shows Thu, 09 Jul 2020 15:45:04 +0000 Letícia Ramos https://leticiaramos.art/solo-shows https://leticiaramos.art/NOISE Tue, 21 Mar 2023 20:01:07 +0000 Letícia Ramos https://leticiaramos.art/NOISE <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a5e5b2bfd1b8ca0870f7fd6689252d55f59ffcb5ae7610912cf20a0b076e3d23/_GF_9719_web.jpg" data-mid="172582624" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a5e5b2bfd1b8ca0870f7fd6689252d55f59ffcb5ae7610912cf20a0b076e3d23/_GF_9719_web.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dbeb5b7511bcc2184edb651a450bcd4f34331e66094eac2e56a074e521e423f4/_GF_9727_web.jpg" data-mid="172582626" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dbeb5b7511bcc2184edb651a450bcd4f34331e66094eac2e56a074e521e423f4/_GF_9727_web.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4300ec19c2807f2a56a69aada7024ec50aced8b044268ecf096faa8ebaaf105e/_GF_9730_web.jpg" data-mid="172582627" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4300ec19c2807f2a56a69aada7024ec50aced8b044268ecf096faa8ebaaf105e/_GF_9730_web.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2471bba799e52f47266daad5ca26cf822b60aa17eb4592092c2dca17f255c923/_GF_9732_web.jpg" data-mid="172582628" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2471bba799e52f47266daad5ca26cf822b60aa17eb4592092c2dca17f255c923/_GF_9732_web.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ef5d2018d907c0d043ef5f1984f4763aee1784d7aa843288f3a69f195e059044/_GF_9739-HDR_web.jpg" data-mid="172582629" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ef5d2018d907c0d043ef5f1984f4763aee1784d7aa843288f3a69f195e059044/_GF_9739-HDR_web.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0886ac65447c887fc6d020e3871d6b429239983e9d892eb6227777fd9c50e9e7/_GF_9752_web.jpg" data-mid="172582630" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0886ac65447c887fc6d020e3871d6b429239983e9d892eb6227777fd9c50e9e7/_GF_9752_web.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7516196dd6eb8c65b12469e0f85d8f4786564502be15a145f09dce6558335cab/_GF_9760_web.jpg" data-mid="172582631" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7516196dd6eb8c65b12469e0f85d8f4786564502be15a145f09dce6558335cab/_GF_9760_web.jpg" /> NOISE Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo – Brazil, 2022 February 12th to march 19th, 2022 If you see a big sphere you are probably in danger.&nbsp;In 2013, a mysterious explosion was heard in the far north of Siberia. People living 100km from the site reported seeing the sky glaring. Months later scientists found a new 40 x 30m deep crater in an isolated region of the Arctic. What exactly is causing the occurrence of these enormous holes in the permafrost is a mystery (hypotheses have been made but they are still inconclusive). For many researchers studying the Arctic, they are a disturbing sign that this cold and mostly uninhabited part of the world is going through radical changes. The progressive melting of ice in the Siberian tundra has resulted in the release of gases and microorganisms that had been ‘dormant’ for millions of years, many of them completely unknown to science. &nbsp;When the ice melts and the magnetism of the world changes, this sphere will multiply and split. &nbsp;Just like the Siberian craters, in Drop Spike, Leticia Ramos’ most recent film, a large glowing sphere inexplicably emerges amidst gelid mountains. A robotic voice announces that the sphere will appear simultaneously in different places as the ice melts. The addition of this strange element interrupting the monotony of the landscape, the sense of dilated time and an incomplete narrative generates an unsettling feeling that is difficult to classify, something between the melancholic realization of our imminent end and the renewal of a link with something that cannot be rationally understood. &nbsp;I want the sphere to appear where I plan. &nbsp;&nbsp;To create her singular visual universes, Ramos draws on intense technical, historical and iconographic research. With each new project the experimental cinematographic apparatus she creates is renewed. To give shape to each story she must find the perfect combination between lab-induced/produced situations and elements captured with more open lenses[AF1] . Nothing, or almost nothing, in Leticia Ramos’ work is what it seems to be and it is from this elusive place that she proposes a free reflection on what – or perhaps who – constitutes what we conventionally call ‘real’.Celluloid film and emulsion are the artist’s essential raw matter, a medium that she handles and reinvents with great dexterity, allowing her to create a subjective perception of time, intertwining human time, the time of matter and cosmic time. As well as announcing the ‘end of times’, the sphere in Drop Spike has one peculiarity: it can only be seen with the naked eye; it cannot be recorded, mapped or shared. In the film and in the world, the ice melts and releases a mystery. Just like the pendulum that records with light the unpredictable lines of its trajectory in the series of photograms White Noise, the occurrences of the sphere are unique events, in which the quality of presence is indispensable. Who will receive the metaphysical warning? Whoever is there looking carefully at the sky. The same applies to the photograms. To generate them, Ramos performs a sort of photographic hypnosis, in which the slightest detour or calculation mistake can ruin everything, a distracted gaze is not able to capture the nuance or comprehend the complexity of these events – or, better still, phenomena – which occur on emulsified paper.Ramos’ images share the same type of methodological rigor employed in scientific research but without the intention of explaining anything. They reiterate the level of mystery and speculation that still envelops the most advanced scientific discoveries. Italian philosopher Federico Campagna argues for a return to magical thinking as a tool for reviewing how the West understands reality. He proposes that we think of what he calls ‘technic’ (capitalist rationale and modern scientific thought) not as something absolute and irrevocable, but as one of many cosmogonies, a series of projections or myths primarily anchored in the absolute language of numbers, and this essentially Western cosmogony predetermines the way in which we understand and circumscribe the world. In the realm of ‘technic’, the real is numeric, thus reality can be measured, serialized and consequently traded. Therefore, whatever cannot be measured, serialized or exchanged does not ‘exist’. The ‘Technical Era’, according to Campagna, is one of unprecedented metaphysical nihilism, in which the immensurable and the incomprehensible are seen as signs of superstition or undermined as invalid forms of knowledge.This sphere will appear in many places at the same time. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Like Campagna, Leticia Ramos contends that reality is a patchwork of variable and fleeting contingencies. Her work suggests that the answer to our woes cannot be found in the realm of appearances but in an occult cosmological rationale that unites us with other beings and other times. Working with photography as a way of capturing the ineffable and creating worlds, Ramos reiterates that the only possible solution against the emergence of the apocalyptic sphere is a structural shift in the way we understand and engage with reality. The future looks increasingly less like the past; however, we continue to believe in weather forecasts and technocratic rhetoric. *Only one thing is certain about the mysterious craters in the Arctic , their appearance has opened new possibilities for financially exploiting previously inaccessible natural gas and oil reserves, in a vicious cycle in which the nefarious environmental impacts of fossil fuel extraction generate further opportunities to preserve its economic feasibility. The sky will fall over your heads.—Fernanda Brenner https://leticiaramos.art/LE-FUTUR-D-AVANT Tue, 12 Jan 2021 13:09:33 +0000 Letícia Ramos https://leticiaramos.art/LE-FUTUR-D-AVANT <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/895445ac1d5f66c8a08bebba79100e4a7d2492a6c8bb86d5c4a81f35da092951/NL_frame01.jpg" data-mid="94789617" border="0" alt="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8&rsquo;, 5.1 sound, 2020" data-caption="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8’, 5.1 sound, 2020" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/895445ac1d5f66c8a08bebba79100e4a7d2492a6c8bb86d5c4a81f35da092951/NL_frame01.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6523aa1182349b85e4099c2c67b91b7c73b4d1db1b8dd5a842dd205de4b20067/NL_frame02.jpg" data-mid="94789618" border="0" alt="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8&rsquo;, 5.1 sound, 2020" data-caption="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8’, 5.1 sound, 2020" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6523aa1182349b85e4099c2c67b91b7c73b4d1db1b8dd5a842dd205de4b20067/NL_frame02.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/80021ded8dfc9a21b3707f02fbf37f629eb15c5da978870ac4e20de938920c94/NL_frame06.jpg" data-mid="94789619" border="0" alt="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8&rsquo;, 5.1 sound, 2020" data-caption="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8’, 5.1 sound, 2020" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/80021ded8dfc9a21b3707f02fbf37f629eb15c5da978870ac4e20de938920c94/NL_frame06.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/84f3f0d2a3ea684f786a7a3be7091b130231b6064f1b409b1c13f681bca567bc/NL_frame10.jpg" data-mid="94789620" border="0" alt="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8&rsquo;, 5.1 sound, 2020" data-caption="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8’, 5.1 sound, 2020" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/84f3f0d2a3ea684f786a7a3be7091b130231b6064f1b409b1c13f681bca567bc/NL_frame10.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/517d79e85bc5bd6e2fc6010aadcb2014a5c3456352ccd832060a91410c5118af/NL_frame12.jpg" data-mid="94789621" border="0" alt="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8&rsquo;, 5.1 sound, 2020" data-caption="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8’, 5.1 sound, 2020" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/517d79e85bc5bd6e2fc6010aadcb2014a5c3456352ccd832060a91410c5118af/NL_frame12.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5776387dbff59c05a41d8ee4d36a1f37b944e0cb5f4df6899f589c4a264bf407/NL_frame14.jpg" data-mid="94789622" border="0" alt="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8&rsquo;, 5.1 sound, 2020" data-caption="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8’, 5.1 sound, 2020" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5776387dbff59c05a41d8ee4d36a1f37b944e0cb5f4df6899f589c4a264bf407/NL_frame14.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0c0c9ed6a843a9254562b7945f3115c2b7c60bf0729b45a5f3c54f0fd21fcfbe/NL_frame18.jpg" data-mid="94789623" border="0" alt="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8&rsquo;, 5.1 sound, 2020" data-caption="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8’, 5.1 sound, 2020" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0c0c9ed6a843a9254562b7945f3115c2b7c60bf0729b45a5f3c54f0fd21fcfbe/NL_frame18.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/45a4c679f4c503a3a70bee676773f20032fed21b8e0349c7ea9f9104cdb7576d/NL_frame19.jpg" data-mid="94789625" border="0" alt="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8&rsquo;, 5.1 sound, 2020" data-caption="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8’, 5.1 sound, 2020" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/45a4c679f4c503a3a70bee676773f20032fed21b8e0349c7ea9f9104cdb7576d/NL_frame19.jpg" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c3eec6433a2bc0360cf3f1a2e20fcf7ffddd584f360f5b8af5fbecd224071a43/NL_frame20.jpg" data-mid="94789626" border="0" alt="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8&rsquo;, 5.1 sound, 2020" data-caption="Null Island - Interactive movie, 8’, 5.1 sound, 2020" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c3eec6433a2bc0360cf3f1a2e20fcf7ffddd584f360f5b8af5fbecd224071a43/NL_frame20.jpg" /> LE FUTUR D'AVANT Jeu de Paume (online), Paris – França, 2020 aarea.co (online), São Paulo - Brasil, 2020 October 21st 2020 to 5th January 2021 Click here to see the work From 21st October 2020 to January 2021&nbsp;aarea occuped&nbsp;Jeu de Paume's Espace Virtuel with Le Futur d'avant, a curatorial project that presents a series of commissioned works that debuted over the months, starting with Leticia Ramos (Brazil). The program also featured works by Marguerite Humeau, Jota Mombaça, Catherine Dufour and Jean-Marc Ligny, among others. About Le Futur d'avant Le Futur d'avant departs from the genre of science fiction to remind us that we have the power to formulate other possibilities for the future. If the future is a projection, or a fiction, what kind of narratives do we want to project in order to imagine a future that is more engaging than the uncertainty of our present situation? How can art help us to envision them? In her essay The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction (1986), science-fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin analyses the recurring story that is told about the development of mankind and explains that, being an aging woman, she feels no connection with the heroic figure of the “mammoth hunter”. However, there is a narrative for her and for the many other people who are excluded from this brave myth: from the Palaeolithic to prehistoric times, humans mostly ate foods gathered in nature (plants, seeds, small animals, etc.), not the meat of large prey that involved hunting. Le Guin then asks why we don’t recognize and tell more stories about the invention of the bags, containers, baskets and bowls that met the primary needs of carrying and storing food. This story, however, may not be as exciting and engaging as the male narrative of the adventurous hunter. In her writing, Le Guin set out to write science-fiction novels that work as a kind of “bag”: one that not only contains the myth of the bold hero, but also beginnings without ends, spaceships that get stuck, missions that fail, more tricks than conflicts and far fewer triumphs than snares and delusions: “Finally, it’s clear that the Hero does not look well in this bag. He needs a stage or a pedestal or a pinnacle. You put him in a bag and he looks like a rabbit, like a potato.” In most of the classic works of science fiction the same power structures present in our current society are replicated. Their narratives are centred around the male who explores, while women and persons of colour relegated to secondary roles – they are not the ones building new cosmologies and developing technologies. Looking at science-fiction that is written by multiple voices might provide an opportunity to imagine other future worlds that do not reproduce the same structural traps in which we find ourselves today. Octavia Butler’s Parables books, for instance, provide a provocative counter-narrative for thinking about the current commercial exploration of space promoted by the heroic “mammoth hunters” of our times, capitalist billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Butler’s space mission is founded on a collective dream so radical that it must be projected in space. What kind of world-making do we want to take forward? The artists engaged in this reflection on science-fiction do not neglect the past when seeking clues for thinking about the future. They see technology as a tool for the preservation of ancestral knowledge and the imagining of alternative realities. About Leticia Ramos's Null Island The Future d’Avant programme of Jeu de Paume’s Espace Virtuel opened with Letícia Ramos’s Null Island, curated by aarea. Null Island is located at 0°N 0°E, where the prime meridian and the equator cross. The location is marked by a buoy in the Atlantic. This hypothetical place exists only in mathematics and cartography: it was created so that other places could be indexed on a map. At a weather station in Antarctica, a scientist and a robot talk to each other. In Letícia Ramos’s Null Island, science is the backdrop to a story that speaks of isolation and loneliness. We follow the scientist’s perception of a strange phenomenon that appears in the polar landscape: a metallic sphere that cannot be captured by cameras and is visible only to the organic eyes of humans and animals. The robot – a form of artificial intelligence that controls the cameras and has been living there for a long time – cannot detect the sphere and this disagreement about what is being seen triggers more subjective and existential conversations between scientist and robot. The temporality in Null Island is fluid, going back-and-forth; present and past refers to&nbsp; a hypothetical future that depends on the viewer’s interactive choices. The current time appears in the work through data produced by a live streaming seismograph, telling us about the state of the ground where we live. Null Island was constructed using appropriated images from webcams located in the Dark Sector of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. There, live cameras provide one photograph every 90 seconds, which Ramos spent months capturing and then compiling into a stop motion animation. The natural phenomena that occurred in the landscape were then condensed: hours of film turned into seconds, revealing natural phenomena that would be invisible to the human eye because of the extended temporality. Null Island also contains footage taken by Ramos in Antarctica, together with images produced with models in her studio in São Paulo during the lockdown. About aarea www.aarea.co is an online platform founded in 2017 to showcase artworks created specifically for the internet. aarea's website doesn't feature fixed elements such as logo, texts or links that are not a part of the artist’s work. Each edition presents a single project and the featured artists have all been challenged with creating a work whose only vehicle is the internet, most doing so for the first time. aarea’s activities extend beyond its website, promoting a broad public program in partnership with other institutions, doing curatorial projects, seminars and other projects. https://leticiaramos.art/RESILIENCY-AND-REVERBERATION Thu, 16 Apr 2020 22:26:33 +0000 Letícia Ramos https://leticiaramos.art/RESILIENCY-AND-REVERBERATION <img width="800" height="541" width_o="800" height_o="541" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a281d27454a97b86ad2fdcc67cbaee6e379f4cc87ff434d7a8625c61d032b2d3/56A1622-1-lw-800x541.jpg" data-mid="67270571" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/a281d27454a97b86ad2fdcc67cbaee6e379f4cc87ff434d7a8625c61d032b2d3/56A1622-1-lw-800x541.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="657" width_o="1024" height_o="657" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8cd71aa4961ad28be339a51d423893bd6d667d8d6507ca9a1e96bb1c7711220a/56A1586-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270529" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8cd71aa4961ad28be339a51d423893bd6d667d8d6507ca9a1e96bb1c7711220a/56A1586-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="683" height="1024" width_o="683" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9249096a69f83fb1507d4e11a0673fba610120709ef04a6d1bb7c2396b633da1/56A1641-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270541" border="0" alt="Seismograph - 35mm film transfered to v&iacute;deo, 01:24 looping, 2018 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Seismograph - 35mm film transfered to vídeo, 01:24 looping, 2018 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/683/i/9249096a69f83fb1507d4e11a0673fba610120709ef04a6d1bb7c2396b633da1/56A1641-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="683" height="1024" width_o="683" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a6c4c710416dd0ff718e93a6d971e87e1d588aaa1ddb726febc1d968941e718b/56A1640-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270540" border="0" alt="Seismograph - 35mm film transfered to v&iacute;deo, 01:24 looping, 2018 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Seismograph - 35mm film transfered to vídeo, 01:24 looping, 2018 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/683/i/a6c4c710416dd0ff718e93a6d971e87e1d588aaa1ddb726febc1d968941e718b/56A1640-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="687" width_o="1024" height_o="687" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fc0d766989d7b1468007a5d5587398e8866dab203f0c18e302cad2dbb650a0ae/56A1610-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270532" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fc0d766989d7b1468007a5d5587398e8866dab203f0c18e302cad2dbb650a0ae/56A1610-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/518ea4f25262a53378bea1d35aec4d749d5736969dcb2dd35213f617a47c8b62/56A1616-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270533" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/518ea4f25262a53378bea1d35aec4d749d5736969dcb2dd35213f617a47c8b62/56A1616-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d4c31964ceebdd1aa31f3b2af1f96a98ffcffa310043cc5c9a8d846a84a07570/56A1594-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270531" border="0" alt="Black Panorama II - print from microfilm, 100 x 250 cm, N/A, 2018 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Black Panorama II - print from microfilm, 100 x 250 cm, N/A, 2018 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d4c31964ceebdd1aa31f3b2af1f96a98ffcffa310043cc5c9a8d846a84a07570/56A1594-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/aea369b962579bd3ac82d7c51820e9cdeecce205c0804874b38a78c99773d618/56A1593-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270530" border="0" alt="Black Panorama II - print from microfilm, 100 x 250 cm, N/A, 2018 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Black Panorama II - print from microfilm, 100 x 250 cm, N/A, 2018 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/aea369b962579bd3ac82d7c51820e9cdeecce205c0804874b38a78c99773d618/56A1593-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e858fa18d092e0cf9c99e299d3b5bb8f521460070ed8c1cb9a1ae68922eedb2/56A1620-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270534" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8e858fa18d092e0cf9c99e299d3b5bb8f521460070ed8c1cb9a1ae68922eedb2/56A1620-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="691" height="1024" width_o="691" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2e025ed1bb55d8744e1b7a199260cb066e9e8adcb3a036be0d9458a213607f77/56A1630-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270538" border="0" alt="Novo Risco IX - Silver print photogram, 172 &times; 140 cm, N/A, 2019 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Novo Risco IX - Silver print photogram, 172 × 140 cm, N/A, 2019 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/691/i/2e025ed1bb55d8744e1b7a199260cb066e9e8adcb3a036be0d9458a213607f77/56A1630-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a1423d5a0fc0b2231006dfa213ea641cd6d7420d3b9fca868c105f4ce200fb72/56A1627-1-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270537" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a1423d5a0fc0b2231006dfa213ea641cd6d7420d3b9fca868c105f4ce200fb72/56A1627-1-lw.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6b55a97bc3d62c0ee9dc83d704b9513613a346b9de02bb1266dbd0d96b350ce7/56A1625-1.s-lw.jpg" data-mid="67270535" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - &copy; Jeremy Lawson" data-caption="Exhibition View - Mendes Wood DM - New York, USA, 2019 - © Jeremy Lawson" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6b55a97bc3d62c0ee9dc83d704b9513613a346b9de02bb1266dbd0d96b350ce7/56A1625-1.s-lw.jpg" /> RESILIENCY AND REVERBERATION Mendes Wood DM, New York – USA, 2019 June 27th to August 31th, 2019 Mendes Wood DM is pleased to present Resiliency and Reverberation, the first solo exhibition in the United States by Brazilian artist Leticia Ramos. Her complex images synthesize technique and illusion by exploring the limits of analog photography. For Ramos, Photography is a form of chemical mechanical magic and relies on empirical research and experimentation to create her work, driving towards an aesthetic intersection between the documentable and fictional. Resiliency and Reverberation is comprised of several bodies of work from her recent projects, Resistance of the Body and Universal History of Earthquakes, each examining perceived realities, ruptures and modes of production. Ramos began her career by building makeshift cameras and using X-Rays in order to control and understand the chemical process. She has since eliminated the camera altogether and now relies on different techniques of capturing light to create her images. She achieves this through photograms, which are photographic images made without the aid of a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of photo paper while exposing it to light. This results in 2D impression of 3D forms. In her Light Photogram series, Ramos expanded on the photogram and eliminated the object all together. Instead she created sculptures using pure light and exposed them to negatives, capturing the trajectory of the light onto the silver gelatin of the paper. Her investigation into how to create a photograph without a camera led her to pursue creating a landscape without the landscape. This was achieved in the work Black Panorama II, which appears to be a velvety night sky punctuated by galaxies. In reality the work is made from scratching directly into a microfilm negative, completely removing the need for light altogether, which creates the illusion of a landscape. Ramos’ interest in illusions and the malleability of what is real is depicted in the photograms Rupturas [Rupture] and Riscos [Scratches], from her 2018 exhibition Universal History of Earthquakes. Originally presented at Pivô in São Paulo, the exhibition examined the devastating 1775 earthquake in Lisbon and the consequential effects it had on the then Brazilian colony. The earthquake was the largest ever-recorded natural catastrophe in Europe, vaulting Portugal to modernity as it sped up geological and architectural research, relying on Brazil for the capital and raw materials to do so. Rupturas [Rupture] and Riscos [Scratches] are portraits of earthquakes at the exact moment of the initial rupture. For Rupturas, Ramos built a device that applies pressure to a piece of Pau Brasil&nbsp;[Brazilwood] to its breaking point, testing the resistance and limits of the material.&nbsp; Using a stroboscope light and a microfilm negative, she captured&nbsp;the exact moment of the snapping of the wood, tracing the trajectory of the splinters.&nbsp; The series Riscos [Scratches] similarly aims to document an unseen force, the movement of tectonic plates during an earthquake. For the work, Ramos stacked wood, photosensitive paper, and sandpaper on a vibrating device, in essence creating a mini earthquake in her studio. The resulting image is a hauntingly black plane with violent scratches from where the sandpaper came in contact with the gelatin of the negative, illustrating the rupture of the quake. In both series Ramos memorializes an event that has no photographic evidence and explores the very idea of the earthquake as a trope for political and personal precariousness. Medium is also a vital element in Ramos’ work as evident in the stop motion Magnetic Fields. In the multi-channel video, a luminous mass moves across the screen, mimicking a shooting star forever caught in a loop. The work is created by slowly shining a flashlight on microfilm, frame by frame, until the illusion of motion is achieved.&nbsp; Like much of the information we consume, Magnetic Fields is an illusion presented as reality reshaping our understanding of the past. Political instability fuels many of Ramos’s core ideas. Her works become relics of what happened before, products of archeological excavations turned into artificial realities. Yet however tumultuous and bleak the political contexts may be, her aim is always the same — to portray hope.&nbsp; This is best personified in her work Mão [Hand] from the series The Resistance of the Body. In&nbsp;Mão&nbsp;,&nbsp;a single fist appears as if coming out of the rubble against a grey and scratched plane, symbolizing resilience and the strength which comes from tragedy.&nbsp; Despite the instability around us, we are still here. https://leticiaramos.art/UNIVERSAL-HISTORY-OF-THE-EARTHQUAKES Thu, 16 Apr 2020 22:56:16 +0000 Letícia Ramos https://leticiaramos.art/UNIVERSAL-HISTORY-OF-THE-EARTHQUAKES <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c1c4b8e0c20f8644534914d65a7c1caa9e5d669de2260f1950bbf434a67a9fa7/18A4347-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272088" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Piv&ocirc; Art and Research - S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/c1c4b8e0c20f8644534914d65a7c1caa9e5d669de2260f1950bbf434a67a9fa7/18A4347-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="2896" height="4344" width_o="2896" height_o="4344" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/425a1cf2ee75f54bb02059f308fb980cdbdd6195938bc71e6c963abe18789944/_18A4316.jpg" data-mid="74868861" border="0" alt="Earthquake Simulation Machine - eletronic device, motors, arduino, metallic structure, plywood, electric plug and cable, 115,5 x 41,5 x 41 cm, N/A, 2016 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Earthquake Simulation Machine - eletronic device, motors, arduino, metallic structure, plywood, electric plug and cable, 115,5 x 41,5 x 41 cm, N/A, 2016 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/425a1cf2ee75f54bb02059f308fb980cdbdd6195938bc71e6c963abe18789944/_18A4316.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2210b693b4c5e887f07c6ca3331a2ae4cc582bd116160391b1bd0c27ab3480fa/18A4336-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272086" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Piv&ocirc; Art and Research - S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/2210b693b4c5e887f07c6ca3331a2ae4cc582bd116160391b1bd0c27ab3480fa/18A4336-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f2aa507d023e5d8462bf59120a528311ae8c55352dc8fd71b0d62cef30d78419/18A4374-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272089" border="0" alt="Risco IV, II, III - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm (each), N/A, 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Risco IV, II, III - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm (each), N/A, 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/f2aa507d023e5d8462bf59120a528311ae8c55352dc8fd71b0d62cef30d78419/18A4374-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="869" height="1303" width_o="869" height_o="1303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7ba98049b53b293d348a26be85f44f23fbdd6c355efd39d1a78112acfcf891fa/_18A4620.jpg" data-mid="74868566" border="0" alt="Risco III, 2018 - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Risco III, 2018 - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/869/i/7ba98049b53b293d348a26be85f44f23fbdd6c355efd39d1a78112acfcf891fa/_18A4620.jpg" /> <img width="869" height="1303" width_o="869" height_o="1303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/64817c2dfaf262fa8993b6e7a67bc43c71bcb521c14b1b56b453b0980f5339d7/_18A4622.jpg" data-mid="74868612" border="0" alt="Risco III, 2018 (detail) - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Risco III, 2018 (detail) - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/869/i/64817c2dfaf262fa8993b6e7a67bc43c71bcb521c14b1b56b453b0980f5339d7/_18A4622.jpg" /> <img width="869" height="1303" width_o="869" height_o="1303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be444b96020a421fae597ab8da3aa69d4052908bcbe7bc0a42fb703e8ad2d026/_18A4612.jpg" data-mid="74868579" border="0" alt="Risco II, 2018 - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Risco II, 2018 - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/869/i/be444b96020a421fae597ab8da3aa69d4052908bcbe7bc0a42fb703e8ad2d026/_18A4612.jpg" /> <img width="869" height="1303" width_o="869" height_o="1303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a04f14f4dda85afceeb43ae2092830c3a1f289b6296886041d66cc1079482b60/_18A4604.jpg" data-mid="74868584" border="0" alt="Risco IV, 2018 - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Risco IV, 2018 - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/869/i/a04f14f4dda85afceeb43ae2092830c3a1f289b6296886041d66cc1079482b60/_18A4604.jpg" /> <img width="869" height="1303" width_o="869" height_o="1303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3c3e2860a2d695d1bd0f871b640c0eef4e44ca8aedf31889ded41e9cf585ff29/_18A4606.jpg" data-mid="74868715" border="0" alt="Risco IV, 2018 (detail) - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Risco IV, 2018 (detail) - Silver print and photogram, 172 x 141 cm, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/869/i/3c3e2860a2d695d1bd0f871b640c0eef4e44ca8aedf31889ded41e9cf585ff29/_18A4606.jpg" /> <img width="4344" height="2896" width_o="4344" height_o="2896" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/26d9187f4257a485aef765546466709a5ade4aae0f3382b6d11ac5577ed9e596/_18A4409.jpg" data-mid="74868924" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Piv&ocirc; Art and Research - S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/26d9187f4257a485aef765546466709a5ade4aae0f3382b6d11ac5577ed9e596/_18A4409.jpg" /> <img width="1303" height="869" width_o="1303" height_o="869" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ebce905c39113e4d55122dc40c88af2162ae4ab4ce1e1d6a69c6cd3e7adbb9aa/_18A4416.jpg" data-mid="74868547" border="0" alt="EL Mago y El Terremoto I - Stroboscopic photography on microfilm. 92 x 121,5 cm, 3 + 2 A.P. - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="EL Mago y El Terremoto I - Stroboscopic photography on microfilm. 92 x 121,5 cm, 3 + 2 A.P. - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ebce905c39113e4d55122dc40c88af2162ae4ab4ce1e1d6a69c6cd3e7adbb9aa/_18A4416.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cad4695049045dd59895afd73a7993dc27ec03ad7de652eca106b0489d19dc56/18A4388-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272090" border="0" alt="Seismograph, 2018 - 35mm film, projector, needle, subwoofer, wood and seismograph, Variable dimensions, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Seismograph, 2018 - 35mm film, projector, needle, subwoofer, wood and seismograph, Variable dimensions, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/cad4695049045dd59895afd73a7993dc27ec03ad7de652eca106b0489d19dc56/18A4388-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c9c64b1cd73d55098791523723050f1560cd17eb37d6c2aa209db329e2035f3d/18A4637-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272095" border="0" alt="Seismograph, 2018 (detail) - Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Seismograph, 2018 (detail) - Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/c9c64b1cd73d55098791523723050f1560cd17eb37d6c2aa209db329e2035f3d/18A4637-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/368aaeb2fbfccf699211a43a64a72c7f87249da9eced02fb8b902f4dff8b5f89/18A4652-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272096" border="0" alt="Seismograph, 2018 (detail) - Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Seismograph, 2018 (detail) - Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/368aaeb2fbfccf699211a43a64a72c7f87249da9eced02fb8b902f4dff8b5f89/18A4652-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/30a9ad9c39bce4122822b3d2bca4e1d2d953bd9064d50f787746f324d7674007/18A4686-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272097" border="0" alt="Seismograph, 2018 - 35mm film, projector, needle, subwoofer, wood and seismograph, Variable dimensions, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Seismograph, 2018 - 35mm film, projector, needle, subwoofer, wood and seismograph, Variable dimensions, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/30a9ad9c39bce4122822b3d2bca4e1d2d953bd9064d50f787746f324d7674007/18A4686-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="1303" height="869" width_o="1303" height_o="869" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/83c8992d5405318feb40da16bc70d12edaf632e48bc32f799cf1c1b53e55562f/_18A4380.jpg" data-mid="74868516" border="0" alt="Grabado del escenario de la &Oacute;pera del Tejo en el d&iacute;a de su inauguraci&oacute;n, 31 de Marzo de 1755 - silver print reproduction / papel photorag, 13,5 x 19 x 4 cm, N/A, 2016 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Grabado del escenario de la Ópera del Tejo en el día de su inauguración, 31 de Marzo de 1755 - silver print reproduction / papel photorag, 13,5 x 19 x 4 cm, N/A, 2016 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/83c8992d5405318feb40da16bc70d12edaf632e48bc32f799cf1c1b53e55562f/_18A4380.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/82c392bec8ddb8e11874cfb5f9d4a504b71c09f4ad880d440d28708f204626e8/18A4448-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272092" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Piv&ocirc; Art and Research - S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/82c392bec8ddb8e11874cfb5f9d4a504b71c09f4ad880d440d28708f204626e8/18A4448-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="869" height="1303" width_o="869" height_o="1303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d2261c9ef9b4df5ee23691b04254eda79bf96c4c085ce7dadee3276be1429f6f/_18A4578.jpg" data-mid="74868576" border="0" alt="Ruptures IV, 2018 - Stroboscopic photography on microfilm, silver print, 96 x 117 cm, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Ruptures IV, 2018 - Stroboscopic photography on microfilm, silver print, 96 x 117 cm, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/869/i/d2261c9ef9b4df5ee23691b04254eda79bf96c4c085ce7dadee3276be1429f6f/_18A4578.jpg" /> <img width="869" height="1303" width_o="869" height_o="1303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/62ae41a36f9fd4f37c34dc96f1af16ec8e5b26a01c482310247c3c91a5db3fbc/_18A4585.jpg" data-mid="74868574" border="0" alt="Ruptures III, 2018 - Stroboscopic photography on microfilm, silver print, 96 x 117 cm, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Ruptures III, 2018 - Stroboscopic photography on microfilm, silver print, 96 x 117 cm, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/869/i/62ae41a36f9fd4f37c34dc96f1af16ec8e5b26a01c482310247c3c91a5db3fbc/_18A4585.jpg" /> <img width="1303" height="869" width_o="1303" height_o="869" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/87ddb47c6e71d8bd9f289b927f96521e9099bec323ecc98fdab5b8620d48b41a/_18A4472.jpg" data-mid="74868520" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Piv&ocirc; Art and Research - S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/87ddb47c6e71d8bd9f289b927f96521e9099bec323ecc98fdab5b8620d48b41a/_18A4472.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b7a8664798708bcc8478041992ff27e0cb3bd6226d09b4a0e6094f45a19d2c78/18A4427-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272091" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Piv&ocirc; Art and Research - S&atilde;o Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Exhibition View - Pivô Art and Research - São Paulo, Brazil, 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/b7a8664798708bcc8478041992ff27e0cb3bd6226d09b4a0e6094f45a19d2c78/18A4427-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="534" width_o="800" height_o="534" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c20707a594cccb5b7fdc1924c51bcc819f4b14c8f7c79deafd1f0c7d38b1af91/18A4595-800x534.jpg" data-mid="67272094" border="0" alt="Black Panorama II, 2018 - Print from microfilm, 250 x 100 cm, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Black Panorama II, 2018 - Print from microfilm, 250 x 100 cm, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/c20707a594cccb5b7fdc1924c51bcc819f4b14c8f7c79deafd1f0c7d38b1af91/18A4595-800x534.jpg" /> <img width="1303" height="869" width_o="1303" height_o="869" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/64439b2b8c6da171a40a8441bba79ca56f57e84d6078c5747eda88ce103e60af/_18A4599.jpg" data-mid="74868561" border="0" alt="Black Panorama II, 2018 (detail) - Print from microfilm, 250 x 100 cm, N/A - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="Black Panorama II, 2018 (detail) - Print from microfilm, 250 x 100 cm, N/A - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/64439b2b8c6da171a40a8441bba79ca56f57e84d6078c5747eda88ce103e60af/_18A4599.jpg" /> <img width="1303" height="869" width_o="1303" height_o="869" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/86d9ab221668d2ec1a2ab33a5d6d62da9091fcce6bc46fa0b6d4b0af8e992548/_18A4430.jpg" data-mid="74868957" border="0" alt="For A Researcher of the Nature, it is not difficult to simulate a phenomenon - Still frame 16mm transferred to HD , 7&rsquo;, 5.1 sound - Edition of 5 + 1 A.P., 2018 - &copy; Everton Ballardin" data-caption="For A Researcher of the Nature, it is not difficult to simulate a phenomenon - Still frame 16mm transferred to HD , 7’, 5.1 sound - Edition of 5 + 1 A.P., 2018 - © Everton Ballardin" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/86d9ab221668d2ec1a2ab33a5d6d62da9091fcce6bc46fa0b6d4b0af8e992548/_18A4430.jpg" /> <img width="1470" height="1080" width_o="1470" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ffde7d6addb6bad5f2d12ca7368a91969e85ebea628545bf7f8b84a00f3be939/frame_terremoto01.jpg" data-mid="74868958" border="0" alt="For A Researcher of the Nature, it is not difficult to simulate a phenomenon - Still frame 16mm transferred to HD , 7&rsquo;, 5.1 sound - Edition of 5 + 1 A.P., 2018" data-caption="For A Researcher of the Nature, it is not difficult to simulate a phenomenon - Still frame 16mm transferred to HD , 7’, 5.1 sound - Edition of 5 + 1 A.P., 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ffde7d6addb6bad5f2d12ca7368a91969e85ebea628545bf7f8b84a00f3be939/frame_terremoto01.jpg" /> <img width="1480" height="1080" width_o="1480" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/222ffa7641553100accbe23f0c683514c94a0afe334484ca7fef297394196247/frame_terremoto03.jpg" data-mid="74868962" border="0" alt="For A Researcher of the Nature, it is not difficult to simulate a phenomenon - Still frame 16mm transferred to HD , 7&rsquo;, 5.1 sound - Edition of 5 + 1 A.P., 2018" data-caption="For A Researcher of the Nature, it is not difficult to simulate a phenomenon - Still frame 16mm transferred to HD , 7’, 5.1 sound - Edition of 5 + 1 A.P., 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/222ffa7641553100accbe23f0c683514c94a0afe334484ca7fef297394196247/frame_terremoto03.jpg" /> UNIVERSAL HISTORY OF THE EARTHQUAKESPivô Art and Research, São Paulo – Brazil, 2018 September 02nd to October 27th, 2018 INDUCED EARTHQUAKES ARE ALSO UNPREDICTABLE In Japanese mythology, the god Kashima is in charge of guarding Namazu, a giant catfish, keeping it inside a stone cave in the depths of Earth. When Kashima lets his guard down, the fish escapes and the movement of its tail causes earthquakes across the planet. This is one of the stories in Leticia Ramos’ collection. The artist has been investigating the socioeconomic,&nbsp; psychological and political causes and effects of earthquakes since she was awarded the Fundación Botín Visual Art Grant in 2016. The departure point for her research is the earthquake that struck Lisbon in 1775. Seen as one of history’s most intense earthquakes, the event had a tremendous impact on 18th century Portuguese society – and, consequently, also on its colonies. The cataclysm (the earthquake was followed by a tsunami that generated waves up to 20 metres high, as well as countless fires) hit Lisbon in the morning of All Saints’ Day, endorsing the many mythical and religious interpretations of the calamity that followed. The Marquis of Pombal – who was then the country’s Prime Minister – was in charge of rebuilding the Portuguese capital. The nobleman erected the metropolis’ new structures at a speed that would cause envy to contemporary developers who are today responsible for the contentious projects of retrofitting these same buildings. The enterprise was mostly paid for by gold coming from Minas Gerais, and it required a monumental amount of timber – for instance, the famous ‘Pombaline cages’ , were built mainly using Brazilian hardwood – which was imported in a rush from the Brazilian colony, triggering commotion amongst taxpayers across the Atlantic. Ramos draws on this traumatic event in order to produce a sequence of static and moving images that are the result of multiple photographic experiments. Since the start of her career, the artist feeds a specific interest in procedures and the historical evolution of analogic photo-techniques, which has led to the development of a series of unique devices and machines that are able to materialise her projects. ‘Universal History of Earthquakes’ is the combination of of a deep understanding of the media and the artist’s interest in narrative – in this case, both historical and fictional. Narrative is often an intuitive tool used to mitigate the impact of drastic changes: we tell stories to ourselves and create characters and allegories in order to give sense to the intangible or to make the experience of reality more tolerable. The earthquake hit Lisbon in 1775, and photography was invented in 1835 (somewhere between the historical disagreement about its authorship: Talbot or Daguerre?). It was precisely the lack of ‘photographic evidence’ that encouraged the artist to investigate the accounts of that time through stories told by those who were keen to narrate and visually represent what the saw. The majority of photographs exhibited in ‘Universal History of Earthquakes’ were created using the technique of stroboscopic photography in microfilm, which registers the movement of falling objects, in a direct reference to the moment when the shaking occurs. By employing techniques that are typical of the scientific field, Ramos transposes the experiences of a technical lab to the photo lab, creating, therefore, a new type of visual vocabulary. A sphere cuts through a black plane, gradually losing its definition; its dilated displacement is somehow melancholic, soundless (The magician and the Earthquake I, 2016). The images of earthquakes that we often thing. Her visual simulations fascinate for the way they reiterate the mystery and speculation that still reside in the most advanced scientific discoveries. There is still no convincing explanation about the reasons behind the movement of tectonic plates – perhaps Kashima’s unintentional nap that allowed Namazu to escape. On the face of it, all we can do is study their impact and project potential preventive measures (such as in the case of Pombal’s constructions) or to turn this kind of phenomena into allegories that can illustrate the socio-political mess we are in. The legend goes that Namazu only escapes when social injustice is rampant. It levels things out and, faced with the tragedy, everyone goes back to ground zero. In calamitous situations, the State is put to the test, whilst cooperation and solidarity networks come to the fore. Immanuel Kant is amongst the several Enlightenment philosophers (Voltaire refers to the earthquake in Candide, for example) who tried to understand the possible reasons behind nature’s ‘furious wrath’ against Lisbon. The German writer chose a geological and moral argument to approach the catastrophe, thus moving away from the divine explanations that were prevalent at the time. With this in mind, Ramos took her proposition further by acting out ‘empirical science’ . At Pivô, the artist replicated the experiment proposed by the philosopher in one of his essays about the natural disaster in Lisbon. Ramos used boxes filled with soil built according to the following instructions: ‘It is now time to say something about the causes of earthquakes. It is easy for a natural philosopher to reproduce their manifestations. One takes twenty-five pounds of iron fillings, an equal amount of sulphur, and mixes it with ordinary water, buries this paste one or one-and-a-half feet underground and compresses the earth firmly above it. After several hours, a dense vapour is seen rising; the earth trembles, and flames break forth from the soil.’ Taking Kant’s speculation to create a fictional film, Ramos pushes scientific narrative beyond its limits. Today, the ‘natural philosopher’ to which Kant refers is closer to an artist than a scientist. The concept behind the experiment does not explain the origins of earthquakes but it encompasses the conflict between religion and natural science at a crucial moment in the history of Western thought. And what does it mean to talk about earthquakes – or images of earthquakes – in an art exhibition in Brazil in 2018? Whilst I was writing this text, I received a phone alert from The Guardian telling me that an earthquake had just killed 98 people in Bali. I opened the link and watched shaky video footage shot by an eyewitness on their phone. The muffled audio revealed screams and explosions. I attempt here to answer my question with another question: why did the English newspaper choose to publicise precisely this image? Perhaps because it is a ‘real-time’ illustration of the horrors of a natural catastrophe and, in the same measure, a solid evidence of the paper’s efficient coverage. I am thousands of miles away from the quake’s epicentre and yet I promptly received the news seconds after it had happened. In the era of hyper-definition, the amateur image adds a sense of truth and urgency different from professional lenses. Hito Steyerl coined the term ‘poor image’ to describe this type of image. For Steyerl, these inferior images, made in a rush, carry some weight of reality and are conducive of a certain aesthetic of objectivity that is symptomatic of our time. The ‘aesthetic’ of a shaking camera has been co-opted by the mainstream media – and, of course, this makes room for induced situations and scenarios. The only thing that makes me believe that the video was in fact shot by someone who was amidst the earthquake in Bali is the newspaper’s logo that appears at the corner of the screen. However, in reality, the video could have been made in someone’s shower, in the same way the first landing on the moon could have been staged using a model similar to the ones produced by Ramos. Her complex analogic images do not echo Steyerl’s concept. In contrast to the images which the German artist refers to – which are like a digital and frantic by-product of the search for absolute present in our advanced capitalism –, Ramos’ photo-experiments insist on the idea that there is something important about the images that take long, that do not speak for themselves. They are not evidence or a symptom of anything, deliberately remaining as an open question. Ramos’ images are premeditated manipulations, which in a sense makes them immune to the conceptual reconfigurations that images in circulation are often subjected to. Ramos’ historical-scientific-fictional research evolves into the installation Seismograph (2018). By transforming a 16mm projector into a mock seismograph, the artist proposes to measure and, simultaneously, project the vibration of the Copan building. The metal needle that scratches the negative exposed in real-time supposedly reveals the modern building’s vulnerability – or perhaps the vulnerability of all structures we believe to be stable. And what does that mean in seismologic terms?&nbsp; Absolutely nothing. This new cinematographic machine expands on the approach that Ramos has taken for years: a phenomenon, a historical event or a piece of news is the departure point for long and comprehensive projects of artistic investigation. Still today we think about the impact of Lisbon’s earthquake, we understand the extent to which it affected the relationship between Portugal and Brazil, we also know that its ramifications propelled Enlightenment ideas and have provided us with a legacy of civil construction techniques and geological research. However, despite it all, it is still impossible to predict an earthquake. Therefore, an earthquake is always something imminent. Leticia Ramos’ work inhabits a place between science, history, fictional narrative and (why not) magic – a place that is only accessible to art. Her open projects look attentively to the effects of the past without worrying about predicting the future. This artist-inventor calls our attention to the fact that an image is always the merging of something in the world with our ability to interpret and transform what we see. Fernanda Brenner 2018 https://leticiaramos.art/THE-BIG-WAVE Tue, 14 Apr 2020 12:13:07 +0000 Letícia Ramos https://leticiaramos.art/THE-BIG-WAVE <img width="1500" height="1000" width_o="1500" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc78139c0b65d10b9798d5cdbb7e5c6bf376b3b821aa3a69d92b6721b2fb33ab/IMG_9691_w1500.jpg" data-mid="71591746" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bc78139c0b65d10b9798d5cdbb7e5c6bf376b3b821aa3a69d92b6721b2fb33ab/IMG_9691_w1500.jpg" /> <img width="1546" height="1031" width_o="1546" height_o="1031" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ce315995dcb683861b5d5c7dbbd1626dbb1e6eeed4bd7c3bf66d1c2d4c71b253/IMG_9739.jpg" data-mid="68801769" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ce315995dcb683861b5d5c7dbbd1626dbb1e6eeed4bd7c3bf66d1c2d4c71b253/IMG_9739.jpg" /> <img width="1500" height="1000" width_o="1500" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/410aa90517d827d6d8cee4de2a3b1a6ac5d52774ed7050e91b32f7d33d075263/IMG_9712_w1500.jpg" data-mid="71591747" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/410aa90517d827d6d8cee4de2a3b1a6ac5d52774ed7050e91b32f7d33d075263/IMG_9712_w1500.jpg" /> <img width="1585" height="1056" width_o="1585" height_o="1056" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fd988c7fcb092b97f9b1eefe7dedf98c1621905737f4c9f509a3da9fe5ca29aa/IMG_9766.jpg" data-mid="68801774" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fd988c7fcb092b97f9b1eefe7dedf98c1621905737f4c9f509a3da9fe5ca29aa/IMG_9766.jpg" /> <img width="1541" height="1027" width_o="1541" height_o="1027" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/71afc633d46c49beef13f2a70fc0e96cb2682e9c14f567c0b1e0b0532113004e/IMG_9748.jpg" data-mid="68801771" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/71afc633d46c49beef13f2a70fc0e96cb2682e9c14f567c0b1e0b0532113004e/IMG_9748.jpg" /> <img width="1613" height="1075" width_o="1613" height_o="1075" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/19e6f4b04c7cae94ccaef66258973f58f1e2bedeac31e30c6b14bd01fe3e6d7a/IMG_9838.jpg" data-mid="68801782" border="0" alt="Particula - Microfilm transferred to video, looping - Edition of 1 + 1 A.P., 2018" data-caption="Particula - Microfilm transferred to video, looping - Edition of 1 + 1 A.P., 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/19e6f4b04c7cae94ccaef66258973f58f1e2bedeac31e30c6b14bd01fe3e6d7a/IMG_9838.jpg" /> <img width="1056" height="1320" width_o="1056" height_o="1320" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c9b64c6ff861a9a3a139c79db6324ab8158ac7009aff6b931adb92544343b5af/IMG_9854.jpg" data-mid="68801784" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c9b64c6ff861a9a3a139c79db6324ab8158ac7009aff6b931adb92544343b5af/IMG_9854.jpg" /> <img width="1045" height="1306" width_o="1045" height_o="1306" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8daf90bd15da31eca9623774e15e155814429f5221b1643936245089fae6fd6e/IMG_9949.jpg" data-mid="68801869" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8daf90bd15da31eca9623774e15e155814429f5221b1643936245089fae6fd6e/IMG_9949.jpg" /> <img width="1613" height="1075" width_o="1613" height_o="1075" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d8abd5176fdbe2f76b90c63c861dd5ef6b48523316b36e8b2d2e1d5d21b5426b/IMG_9867.jpg" data-mid="68801791" border="0" alt="Particula - Microfilm transferred to video, looping - Edition of 1 + 1 A.P., 2018" data-caption="Particula - Microfilm transferred to video, looping - Edition of 1 + 1 A.P., 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d8abd5176fdbe2f76b90c63c861dd5ef6b48523316b36e8b2d2e1d5d21b5426b/IMG_9867.jpg" /> <img width="1535" height="1023" width_o="1535" height_o="1023" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4b0a8e655be27dbc703c33fe41d6b977be8330f4a7dc82b4def6fb03ac9897e9/IMG_9769.jpg" data-mid="68801775" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4b0a8e655be27dbc703c33fe41d6b977be8330f4a7dc82b4def6fb03ac9897e9/IMG_9769.jpg" /> <img width="1550" height="1033" width_o="1550" height_o="1033" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/16de2a253a2b840bb4f4a8fa870e8d03d737b8db826e39bee0f005d175236546/IMG_9820.jpg" data-mid="68801780" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/16de2a253a2b840bb4f4a8fa870e8d03d737b8db826e39bee0f005d175236546/IMG_9820.jpg" /> <img width="1020" height="1276" width_o="1020" height_o="1276" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e8ff7f8ee676f4024353183b0deaf821bab819781dccb6bdd29232b53f7288db/IMG_9876.jpg" data-mid="68801798" border="0" alt="Bicho Redondo X - Photogram / silver print, 40 x 50 cm - N/A, 2018 " data-caption="Bicho Redondo X - Photogram / silver print, 40 x 50 cm - N/A, 2018 " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e8ff7f8ee676f4024353183b0deaf821bab819781dccb6bdd29232b53f7288db/IMG_9876.jpg" /> <img width="1020" height="1276" width_o="1020" height_o="1276" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/43e4e2eaa0d5e3680fc98f1f697b0e8103e96cb06c8f773dddbef28a5d0cd61f/IMG_9895.jpg" data-mid="68801808" border="0" alt="Bicho Redondo XIX - Photogram / silver print, 40 x 50 cm - N/A, 2018 " data-caption="Bicho Redondo XIX - Photogram / silver print, 40 x 50 cm - N/A, 2018 " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/43e4e2eaa0d5e3680fc98f1f697b0e8103e96cb06c8f773dddbef28a5d0cd61f/IMG_9895.jpg" /> <img width="1020" height="1276" width_o="1020" height_o="1276" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6912549334aa886f053d13f6a9797b1feb5bccd0fd92eb21cc6123dd11aa214b/IMG_9901.jpg" data-mid="68801810" border="0" alt="Bicho Redondo XVII - Photogram / silver print, 40 x 50 cm - N/A, 2018 " data-caption="Bicho Redondo XVII - Photogram / silver print, 40 x 50 cm - N/A, 2018 " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6912549334aa886f053d13f6a9797b1feb5bccd0fd92eb21cc6123dd11aa214b/IMG_9901.jpg" /> <img width="1585" height="1057" width_o="1585" height_o="1057" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9fb1a21cd4778c766b46030d7a18dc790c8204a0d4242f9cf15a666b6195f5a3/IMG_9793.jpg" data-mid="68801778" border="0" alt="Fata Morgana - Photogram / silver print, 100 x 210 cm - N/A, 2018" data-caption="Fata Morgana - Photogram / silver print, 100 x 210 cm - N/A, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9fb1a21cd4778c766b46030d7a18dc790c8204a0d4242f9cf15a666b6195f5a3/IMG_9793.jpg" /> <img width="1548" height="1032" width_o="1548" height_o="1032" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0c762f1cd9720671c666ba8d0253a16318dab3955fb3166a93a1861f098e703c/IMG_9783.jpg" data-mid="68801776" border="0" alt="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" data-caption="Exhibition View - Filomena Soares Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0c762f1cd9720671c666ba8d0253a16318dab3955fb3166a93a1861f098e703c/IMG_9783.jpg" /> <img width="992" height="1488" width_o="992" height_o="1488" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1e6f600c84ab077891430bd77431b68da612c598def36e3f606e503e594d7651/IMG_9931.jpg" data-mid="68801867" border="0" alt="Bicho Branco I - Photogram / silver print, 100 x 160 cm - N/A, 2018" data-caption="Bicho Branco I - Photogram / silver print, 100 x 160 cm - N/A, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/992/i/1e6f600c84ab077891430bd77431b68da612c598def36e3f606e503e594d7651/IMG_9931.jpg" /> <img width="992" height="1488" width_o="992" height_o="1488" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8605ec32ceb657bce2c75d8528277bc8e3445c07b9f8c7cd397517df6e578dce/IMG_9922.jpg" data-mid="68801860" border="0" alt="Bicho Branco III - Photogram / silver print, 100 x 160 cm - N/A, 2018" data-caption="Bicho Branco III - Photogram / silver print, 100 x 160 cm - N/A, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/992/i/8605ec32ceb657bce2c75d8528277bc8e3445c07b9f8c7cd397517df6e578dce/IMG_9922.jpg" /> <img width="992" height="1488" width_o="992" height_o="1488" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6032c0bd6dbd19628772b009f559dcd8f59114e1f0ddb900190fc2d75b68915d/IMG_9915.jpg" data-mid="68801850" border="0" alt="Bicho Branco II - Photogram / silver print, 100 x 160 cm - N/A, 2018" data-caption="Bicho Branco II - Photogram / silver print, 100 x 160 cm - N/A, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/992/i/6032c0bd6dbd19628772b009f559dcd8f59114e1f0ddb900190fc2d75b68915d/IMG_9915.jpg" /> <img width="1572" height="1048" width_o="1572" height_o="1048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f82bddcecd5964c4397887bfeb34c15ad98cdda8a0a2db1701d30e9570aa85ed/IMG_9963.jpg" data-mid="68801874" border="0" alt="Carta Branca - Fine art print from microfilm, poliptic, 30 x 40 cm each, N/A, 2018" data-caption="Carta Branca - Fine art print from microfilm, poliptic, 30 x 40 cm each, N/A, 2018" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f82bddcecd5964c4397887bfeb34c15ad98cdda8a0a2db1701d30e9570aa85ed/IMG_9963.jpg" /> <img width="1573" height="1049" width_o="1573" height_o="1049" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/92941fe6ac1860b5cfc0efffd79845ac9b5e4fe241ab25c1189e048c1165bf96/IMG_9969.jpg" data-mid="68801891" border="0" alt="Carta Branca - Fine art print from microfilm, poliptic, 30 x 40 cm each, N/A, 2018 (Detail)" data-caption="Carta Branca - Fine art print from microfilm, poliptic, 30 x 40 cm each, N/A, 2018 (Detail)" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/92941fe6ac1860b5cfc0efffd79845ac9b5e4fe241ab25c1189e048c1165bf96/IMG_9969.jpg" /> <img width="1573" height="1049" width_o="1573" height_o="1049" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9ac148b9636086c8b256b8ebcaebc002101db2ab8e1430282ac9ade364679359/IMG_9975.jpg" data-mid="68801941" border="0" alt="Carta Branca - Fine art print from microfilm, poliptic, 30 x 40 cm each, N/A, 2018 (Detail)" data-caption="Carta Branca - Fine art print from microfilm, poliptic, 30 x 40 cm each, N/A, 2018 (Detail)" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9ac148b9636086c8b256b8ebcaebc002101db2ab8e1430282ac9ade364679359/IMG_9975.jpg" /> <img width="1573" height="1049" width_o="1573" height_o="1049" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e43446a80b7ebf06eaaec0cd80328b56ca075f5e30062d33e06a4167d62513b4/IMG_9981.jpg" data-mid="68801950" border="0" alt="Carta Branca - Fine art print from microfilm, poliptic, 30 x 40 cm each, N/A, 2018 (Detail)" data-caption="Carta Branca - Fine art print from microfilm, poliptic, 30 x 40 cm each, N/A, 2018 (Detail)" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e43446a80b7ebf06eaaec0cd80328b56ca075f5e30062d33e06a4167d62513b4/IMG_9981.jpg" /> THE BIG WAVE Galeria Filomena Soares, Lisbon – Portugal, 2018 May 10th to September 8th 2018 LIQUID BALLISTICS Milk by Jeff Wall (1984), is one of contemporary photography’s most intriguing images. It is also an (unexpected) entry point into Letícia Ramos’ most recent body of work, currently on exhibition at Galeria Filomena Soares. In the image, a man sitting on the floor, with tense facial and body language, projects the contents of a carton of milk into the air, producing a natural form with unpredictable outlines: ‘the expression of infinitesimal metamorphoses’, as the artist describes. Relinquishing the complex psychological and social weight that is frequently associated with this image (and with Wall’s work in general), Milk is the departure point for the artist’s pivotal essay ‘Photography and Liquid Intelligence’ (1989), in which he describes the ‘liquid intelligence of photography’ as a counterpoint to what he calls its ‘mechanical’ or ‘dry’ aspect. If ‘liquid intelligence’ is linked to a possible genealogy of chemical processes – soak, bleach, rinse, dilute – that derive from a lost memory of image production; then ‘mechanical intelligence’ is all the ‘ballistics’ that result from the mechanised opening and closing of the shutter. In the first case, the experimental and erratic character of the image – where the dream of freezing the movement of light on the plate wasn’t yet considered (except as a fantasy) – becomes, in the second case, the codification of gestures of capturing, preserving and disseminating the image: the foundation of the ‘modern’ concept of photography.Ramos’ work is situated in the rare inflection of history between the nostalgia of early days and modern ‘ballistic’ cynicism (borrowing from Wall’s expression), opening up to a field of philosophical uncertainty (‘we don’t know if we are the future of the past or the past of the future’) in relation to things that are presented to us as ‘pure’ and unquestionable documents. With a solid path in the art field with prominent exhibitions and prizes, such as BES Photo (2014) and Instituto Moreira Salles Grant (2017), Ramos unveils the poetic and fictional side of her many ‘scientific’ projects both through the creation of photographic devices designed to capture images and rebuild movement and her creative and experimental research on mediums that are conventionally seen as ‘obsolete’, such as microfilm. Ramos has said that she is ‘interested in pre-existing technical possibilities used for non-artistic purposes and the extent to which they can enrich experimentation’. As such, Ramos’ work offers a route to understanding the bifurcated paths of the history of photography, which restores (and challenges) the ‘merging’ aspect of images: between chance and accuracy. Alongside a few other artists, she takes a singular path to explore an affective, aesthetic or ‘liquid’ order through the mechanical and controlled act of producing a ‘reality’.In her first solo show in Lisbon, Ramos chose a title that is particularly familiar to us: The Great Wave. Many will remember that summer at the end of the 1990s when the rumours of a false tsunami triggered panic in the Algarve and thousands of beachgoers rushed away from the sea. The ‘phenomenon’ – identified as a ‘dark mass’ on the horizon – was the result of an optical effect linked to heat. However, this didn’t stop the population, the fire brigade, the civil authorities, the press and others from publicising the event as ‘real’. Followers of Ramos’ work are familiar with her recurring interest in these types of ‘occurrences’, which has taken the artist to remote landscapes, such as her journey to circumnavigate the Artic Pole and her ‘historical-mythical’ accounts of earthquakes, including the catastrophic incident of 1775 (Historia Universal de los Terremotos, Fundación Botín, 2017).Using a similar approach to other exhibitions that indistinctly introduce rumours and scientific facts, The Great Wave explores montage procedures that make us oscillate between a nostalgic atmosphere and something ‘spectacular’, analogous to the ‘special effects of a smoke bomb’! Formal studies on photographic materiality and image construction without any stage-setting apparatus (‘I am more concerned with the surface of the photographic paper than scenography’), such as Carta Branca [Blank Letter], Bicho Branco [White Beast] or Superfície I e II [Surface 1 and 2), coexist with artworks that crystallise moments of exceptionality, where the phenomena is transformed into objects of great poetry, such as Light Photogram and Fata Morgana. Nonetheless, the conceptual territory shared between these works is evident and is qualitatively explored in the uncertainty we feel when visiting the exhibition. In fact, Fata Morgana condenses this apparent dichotomy and ‘talks’ for the whole exhibition. It simultaneously refers to the sorcerer Morgana (King Arthur’s half-sister, who according to legend had the power to change her appearance) and to an optical illusion produced in the artist’s studio. The gap that seems to exist between these two groups of works is in fact a statement in homage to our continuous ability to use our imagination on the simplest light drawings on paper. The fact that she is not using any type of camera and that she produces unique images – as the ones presented here – reinforces a speculative field that challenges the ‘mechanics’ of modern photography, its construction and reproducibility.Going back to ‘Photography and Liquid Intelligence’, we understand that Wall’s effort to recover the ‘liquid’ is also a way of criticising the evidence-like status of photographic images and our idea of history. This is also the foundation of Ramos’ argument, particularly in a time when reality (the ‘event’, according to Benjamin) is entirely focused on mass transmission. As it is no longer necessary to look at the world because the camera will do it for us, The Great Wave takes us closer to historical time via caesura (or ‘interruption’). But how? By creating an effect of proximity that places us before the world as if we were there for the first time. Are the events in The Great Wave real? Yes and no, but it doesn’t matter: the condition of ambiguity, on the scale of reality, is applicable to the entire field of photography: the ‘liquid-mechanic’ ontology. Marta Mestre2018