Appleton – Guided Tour (PT/EN)

Artists: Mané Pacheco, SE8 (Nicola Oxley, Nicolas de Oliveira) About APPLETON SQUARE The Conquest of Space: Collecting Installation Art Documents "The Conquest of Space: Collecting Installation Art Documents" brings together a wide range of documentary works drawn from the archives of Nicolas de Oliveira and Nicola Oxley. The exhibition proposal addresses the inversion of scale that occurs when large immersive artworks are reduced to mnemonic elements, such as photographs, videos, audio recordings, maquettes, fragments, publications, notes and correspondence. The title is inspired by a work by the Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers, which takes the form of an unusable miniature atlas containing tiny silhouettes of a selection of countries. Nicolas de Oliveira and Nicola Oxley, curators and writers based in London, co-direct SE8 Gallery and the publishing house Mulberry Tree Press. Over the years, they have meticulously documented the works they have commissioned, extending their lifespan through ongoing dialogue with artists, resulting in publications. The curators argue that the ephemeral nature of exhibitions is an essential characteristic of contemporary art, and that this transience is closely linked to the emergence of installation as a medium, as well as to its impact on the visual arts more broadly. The archival turn in art, initiated in the 1960s and 1970s and intensified with the digital era, facilitated the migration of the artwork into the realm of information. This dematerialisation of the object led to its representation as an archive, a phenomenon that is particularly evident in installations (which, due to their scale, site-specificity and immersive nature, cannot easily be "documented"). "The Conquest of Space: …" will function as a choreographed movement through the archive, as suggested in the book A Book of Burning Matches: Collecting Installation Art Documents, which accompanied the eponymous exhibition at the Thomas Olbricht Foundation in Berlin in 2015. The proposal will seek to explore new interpretations of documentation, creating an exhibition that will not only present and expand, but also fictionalise documentary evidence. The compilation of an installation archive will require a fusion between the institutional nature of the collection and the fictional character of the document. This will entail a move away from the dematerialisation of the object, proposing instead a rematerialisation through the archive. Traditionally, an archive constrains the work by maintaining fixed categories. However, "The Conquest of Space: …" will loosen the archive's control over documents, allowing some to "detach" and be revitalised, becoming living exhibitions. Finally, the exhibition will invite several Portuguese artists, with whom the curators have previously worked, to continue the dialogue. These artists will be encouraged to reconsider earlier installations, engaging with the idea that an exhibition is a construction in constant revelation, presenting "attitudes and ideas in the process of formation", rather than "absolute certainties". The works may be seen not as belonging to the past, but as future iterations, allowing the archive to shift from a passive receiver to an active producer of new interpretations. APPLETON BOX "Crossover" by Mané Pacheco "Crossover" is Mané Pacheco's proposal for the presentation at Appleton. The exhibition will employ a form of "fictional biology" to create imaginary beings and genetic maps. Through illustration, modelling, and photography, science and art will be intertwined, proposing speculative narratives that combine scientific data with imagination. By reinterpreting these materials, Pacheco will question the limits of knowledge and propose alternative futures, showing how art expands science and offers new ways of thinking about life and coexistence between species. It is an investigation into the limits of knowledge, the plasticity of life, and the narratives that structure our understanding of the world. Mané Pacheco studied Environment and Nature Conservation before enrolling at FBAUL, where she completed a degree in Multimedia Art. Both areas of training are reflected in an interdisciplinary body of work (drawing, sculpture, installation, video, photography, performance) centered on materiality and the ecology of relationships. "Crossover" will draw on the use of a scientific archive to reimagine beings and their genetic maps in a fictional manner. This approach, which may be described as "fictional biology", will explore possible futures of the planet, demonstrating that science is not presented solely as objective data, but also as narrative, intrinsically linked to artistic practice. The work will incorporate principles of speculative fabulation, proposing narratives that combine scientific observation with critical imagination. Each creature and each fictional genetic map will emerge from the intersection of data, speculation, and artistic experimentation, offering alternative ways of thinking about life, coexistence between species, and possible planetary futures. The exhibition will demonstrate that science and art are deeply interconnected: the technical recording of organisms and genetic structures has always had a narrative character, which artistic practice can expand. By reorganising and reinterpreting these materials, the project will create hybrid worlds that invite the public to reflect on the limits of knowledge, the plasticity of life, and the narratives that shape our understanding of the world. The use of genetic maps, scientific figures, and historical illustrations will be instrumental in creating a cosmology of possibilities, showing how imagination and scientific speculation can engage with the present and inspire different modes of existence. By incorporating speculative fabulation, the exhibition will not be limited to reproducing science, but will open up space to question, invent, and imagine plural and interdependent futures. By presenting fictional creatures and genetic maps, the exhibition will propose an encounter between reality and speculation, scientific observation and artistic invention, revealing how artistic practice can expand science towards broader and more poetic narratives, without losing the precision and historicity of representations. Read more Toggle Multi-disciplinary