Links

PERSPETIVA ATUAL


01. Pressing Matters #1 (Prototype Posé), Burnt papers, acrylic plates, industrial metal bars, nuts, 100 x 21 x 29,7 cm, Gallery Pada, Barreiro, 2023. © Photodocumenta


02. Wonder #3 (Esquisse), Burnt papers, transparent adhesive tape on 300 g/mÂČ Canson paper, 42 x 59,4 cm, Gallery Pada, Barreiro, 2023. © Magda Chmielewska


03. Wonder #1 (Esquisse), Burnt papers, transparent adhesive tape on 300 g/mÂČ Canson paper, 42 x 59,4 cm, Gallery Pada, Barreiro, 2023. © Photodocumenta


04. Diane Giraud // Underdogs Live Sessions, Video (2 minutes et 16 seconds, YouTube), Still image, Direction: André Santos, 2015.


05. Diane Giraud // Underdogs Live Sessions, Video (2 minutes et 16 seconds, YouTube), Still image, Direction: André Santos, 2015.


06. Fragments D’Un Discours PoĂ©tique 3/9, Burnt papers, ashes and transparent adhesive tape on paper, 29.7 cm x 42 cm, Commission by Underdogs, 2015.


07. A Private History: Fragments, burnt papers, ashes and transparent tape on canvas, various dimensions from 42 x 60 cm to 100 x 150 cm, MUHNAC, Lisbon, 2015. © Alipio Padilha


08. A Private History: Fragments, burnt papers, ashes and transparent tape on canvas, various dimensions from 42 x 60 cm to 100 x 150 cm, MUNHNC, Lisbon, 2015. © Alipio Padilha


09. La Chute #5, Burnt papers and ashes on canvas, 100 x 150 cm, 2015. © Dunja Pantic


10. Splendid Stories of Disorder, Installation with canvases, burnt papers, and ashes. 100 x 150 cm (approx. for each canvas). Biscuit Factory, Lisbon, 2017. © Joana Duarte


11. Splendid Stories of Disorder, Installation with canvases, burnt papers, and ashes. 100 x 150 cm (approx. for each canvas). Biscuit Factory, Lisbon, 2017. © Joana Duarte


12. The Art of Conversation, Installation with protective sheets, masking tape, felt pen, various dimensions from 50 x 100 cm to 250 x 180 cm, Gallery Fernando Santos, Porto, 2015.


13. The Art of Conversation, Installation with protective sheets, masking tape, felt pen, various dimensions from 50 x 100 cm to 250 x 180 cm, Gallery Fernando Santos, Porto, 2015.


14. The Art of Conversation, Installation with protective sheets, masking tape, felt pen, various dimensions from 50 x 100 cm to 250 x 180 cm, Gallery Fernando Santos, Porto, 2015.


15. This Is Not A Magritte Performance, Edition 2, In Limen Concept Video (54’’), Still Image. Direction: Eduardo Breda. For live experience at The Paint Factory, PADA Studios, Barreiro, 2020.


16. This Is Not A Magritte Performance, Edition 2, In Limen. Duration: 60 minutes for live experience at The Paint Factory, PADA Studios, Barreiro, 2020.


17. This Is Not A Magritte Performance, Edition 2, In Limen. Duration: 60 minutes for live experience at The Paint Factory, PADA Studios, Barreiro, 2020.


18. This Is Not A Magritte Performance, Edition 3, In Limen Performance Video (7’22’’), Still Images. Culturgest, Auditorium Emílio Rui Vilar, Lisbon, 2023.


19. This Is Not A Magritte Performance, Edition 3, Performance with dancer/ choreographer Filipa Peraltinha. Culturgest, Auditorium EmĂ­lio Rui Vilar, Lisbon, 2023.


20. This Is Not A Magritte Performance, Edition 3, In Limen Performance Video (7’22’’), Still Images. Culturgest, Auditorium Emílio Rui Vilar, Lisbon, 2023.

Outros artigos:

2024-10-21


AISHWARYA KUMAR


2024-09-21


ISABEL TAVARES


2024-08-17


CATARINA REAL


2024-07-14


MAFALDA TEIXEIRA


2024-05-30


CONSTANÇA BABO


2024-04-13


FÁTIMA LOPES CARDOSO


2024-03-04


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO


2024-01-27


NUNO LOURENÇO


2023-12-24


MAFALDA TEIXEIRA


2023-11-21


MARC LENOT


2023-10-16


MARC LENOT


2023-09-10


INÊS FERREIRA-NORMAN


2023-08-09


DENISE MATTAR


2023-07-05


CONSTANÇA BABO


2023-06-05


MIGUEL PINTO


2023-04-28


JOÃO BORGES DA CUNHA


2023-03-22


VERONICA CORDEIRO


2023-02-20


SALOMÉ CASTRO


2023-01-12


SARA MAGNO


2022-12-04


PAULA PINTO


2022-11-03


MARC LENOT


2022-09-30


PAULA PINTO


2022-08-31


JOÃO BORGES DA CUNHA


2022-07-31


MADALENA FOLGADO


2022-06-30


INÊS FERREIRA-NORMAN


2022-05-31


MADALENA FOLGADO


2022-04-30


JOANA MENDONÇA


2022-03-27


JEANNE MERCIER


2022-02-26


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO


2022-01-30


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO


2021-12-29


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO


2021-11-22


MANUELA HARGREAVES


2021-10-28


CARLA CARBONE


2021-09-27


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO


2021-08-11


RITA ANUAR


2021-07-04


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO E NUNO ESTEVES DA SILVA


2021-05-30


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO E NUNO ESTEVES DA SILVA


2021-04-28


CONSTANÇA BABO


2021-03-17


VICTOR PINTO DA FONSECA


2021-02-08


MARC LENOT


2021-01-01


MANUELA HARGREAVES


2020-12-01


CARLA CARBONE


2020-10-21


BRUNO MARQUES


2020-09-16


FÁTIMA LOPES CARDOSO


2020-08-14


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO E NUNO ESTEVES DA SILVA


2020-07-21


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO E NUNO ESTEVES DA SILVA


2020-06-25


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO E NUNO ESTEVES DA SILVA


2020-06-09


PEDRO CABRAL SANTO E NUNO ESTEVES DA SILVA


2020-05-21


MANUELA HARGREAVES


2020-05-01


MANUELA HARGREAVES


2020-04-04


SUSANA GRAÇA E CARLOS PIMENTA


2020-03-02


PEDRO PORTUGAL


2020-01-21


NUNO LOURENÇO


2019-12-11


VICTOR PINTO DA FONSECA


2019-11-09


SÉRGIO PARREIRA


2019-10-09


LUÍS RAPOSO


2019-09-03


SÉRGIO PARREIRA


2019-07-30


JULIA FLAMINGO


2019-06-22


INÊS FERREIRA-NORMAN


2019-05-09


INÊS M. FERREIRA-NORMAN


2019-04-03


DONNY CORREIA


2019-02-15


JOANA CONSIGLIERI


2018-12-22


LAURA CASTRO


2018-11-22


NICOLÁS NARVÁEZ ALQUINTA


2018-10-13


MIRIAN TAVARES


2018-09-11


JULIA FLAMINGO


2018-07-25


RUI MATOSO


2018-06-25


MARIA DE FÁTIMA LAMBERT


2018-05-25


MARIA VLACHOU


2018-04-18


BRUNO CARACOL


2018-03-08


VICTOR PINTO DA FONSECA


2018-01-26


ANA BALONA DE OLIVEIRA


2017-12-18


CONSTANÇA BABO


2017-11-12


HELENA OSÓRIO


2017-10-09


PAULA PINTO


2017-09-05


PAULA PINTO


2017-07-26


NATÁLIA VILARINHO


2017-07-17


ANA RITO


2017-07-11


PEDRO POUSADA


2017-06-30


PEDRO POUSADA


2017-05-31


CONSTANÇA BABO


2017-04-26


MARC LENOT


2017-03-28


ALEXANDRA BALONA


2017-02-10


CONSTANÇA BABO


2017-01-06


CONSTANÇA BABO


2016-12-13


CONSTANÇA BABO


2016-11-08


ADRIANO MIXINGE


2016-10-20


ALBERTO MORENO


2016-10-07


ALBERTO MORENO


2016-08-29


NATÁLIA VILARINHO


2016-06-28


VICTOR PINTO DA FONSECA


2016-05-25


DIOGO DA CRUZ


2016-04-16


NAMALIMBA COELHO


2016-03-17


FILIPE AFONSO


2016-02-15


ANA BARROSO


2016-01-08


TAL R EM CONVERSA COM FABRICE HERGOTT


2015-11-28


MARTA RODRIGUES


2015-10-17


ANA BARROSO


2015-09-17


ALBERTO MORENO


2015-07-21


JOANA BRAGA, JOANA PESTANA E INÊS VEIGA


2015-06-20


PATRÍCIA PRIOR


2015-05-19


JOÃO CARLOS DE ALMEIDA E SILVA


2015-04-13


NatĂĄlia Vilarinho


2015-03-17


Liz Vahia


2015-02-09


Lara Torres


2015-01-07


JOSÉ RAPOSO


2014-12-09


Sara Castelo Branco


2014-11-11


NatĂĄlia Vilarinho


2014-10-07


Clara Gomes


2014-08-21


Paula Pinto


2014-07-15


Juliana de Moraes Monteiro


2014-06-13


Catarina Cabral


2014-05-14


Alexandra Balona


2014-04-17


Ana Barroso


2014-03-18


Filipa Coimbra


2014-01-30


JOSÉ MANUEL BÁRTOLO


2013-12-09


SOFIA NUNES


2013-10-18


ISADORA H. PITELLA


2013-09-24


SANDRA VIEIRA JÜRGENS


2013-08-12


ISADORA H. PITELLA


2013-06-27


SOFIA NUNES


2013-06-04


MARIA JOÃO GUERREIRO


2013-05-13


ROSANA SANCIN


2013-04-02


MILENA FÉRNANDEZ


2013-03-12


FERNANDO BRUNO


2013-02-09


ARTECAPITAL


2013-01-02


ZARA SOARES


2012-12-10


ISABEL NOGUEIRA


2012-11-05


ANA SENA


2012-10-08


ZARA SOARES


2012-09-21


ZARA SOARES


2012-09-10


JOÃO LAIA


2012-08-31


ARTECAPITAL


2012-08-24


ARTECAPITAL


2012-08-06


JOÃO LAIA


2012-07-16


ROSANA SANCIN


2012-06-25


VIRGINIA TORRENTE


2012-06-14


A ART BASEL


2012-06-05


dOCUMENTA (13)


2012-04-26


PATRÍCIA ROSAS


2012-03-18


SABRINA MOURA


2012-02-02


ROSANA SANCIN


2012-01-02


PATRÍCIA TRINDADE


2011-11-02


PATRÍCIA ROSAS


2011-10-18


MARIA BEATRIZ MARQUILHAS


2011-09-23


MARIA BEATRIZ MARQUILHAS


2011-07-28


PATRÍCIA ROSAS


2011-06-21


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2011-05-02


CARLOS ALCOBIA


2011-04-13


SÓNIA BORGES


2011-03-21


ARTECAPITAL


2011-03-16


ARTECAPITAL


2011-02-18


MANUEL BORJA-VILLEL


2011-02-01


ARTECAPITAL


2011-01-12


ATLAS - COMO LEVAR O MUNDO ÀS COSTAS?


2010-12-21


BRUNO LEITÃO


2010-11-29


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2010-10-26


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2010-09-30


ANDRÉ NOGUEIRA


2010-09-22


EL CULTURAL


2010-07-28


ROSANA SANCIN


2010-06-20


ART 41 BASEL


2010-05-11


ROSANA SANCIN


2010-04-15


FABIO CYPRIANO - Folha de S.Paulo


2010-03-19


ALEXANDRA BELEZA MOREIRA


2010-03-01


ANTÓNIO PINTO RIBEIRO


2010-02-17


ANTÓNIO PINTO RIBEIRO


2010-01-26


SUSANA MOUZINHO


2009-12-16


ROSANA SANCIN


2009-11-10


PEDRO NEVES MARQUES


2009-10-20


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2009-10-05


PEDRO NEVES MARQUES


2009-09-21


MARTA MESTRE


2009-09-13


LUÍSA SANTOS


2009-08-22


TERESA CASTRO


2009-07-24


PEDRO DOS REIS


2009-06-15


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2009-06-11


SANDRA LOURENÇO


2009-06-10


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2009-05-28


LUÍSA SANTOS


2009-05-04


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2009-04-13


JOSÉ MANUEL BÁRTOLO


2009-03-23


PEDRO DOS REIS


2009-03-03


EMANUEL CAMEIRA


2009-02-13


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2009-01-26


ANA CARDOSO


2009-01-13


ISABEL NOGUEIRA


2008-12-16


MARTA LANÇA


2008-11-25


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2008-11-08


PEDRO DOS REIS


2008-11-01


ANA CARDOSO


2008-10-27


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2008-10-18


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2008-09-30


ARTECAPITAL


2008-09-15


ARTECAPITAL


2008-08-31


ARTECAPITAL


2008-08-11


INÊS MOREIRA


2008-07-25


ANA CARDOSO


2008-07-07


SANDRA LOURENÇO


2008-06-25


IVO MESQUITA


2008-06-09


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2008-06-05


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2008-05-14


FILIPA RAMOS


2008-05-04


PEDRO DOS REIS


2008-04-09


ANA CARDOSO


2008-04-03


ANA CARDOSO


2008-03-12


NUNO LOURENÇO


2008-02-25


ANA CARDOSO


2008-02-12


MIGUEL CAISSOTTI


2008-02-04


DANIELA LABRA


2008-01-07


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2007-12-17


ANA CARDOSO


2007-12-02


NUNO LOURENÇO


2007-11-18


ANA CARDOSO


2007-11-17


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2007-11-14


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2007-11-08


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2007-11-02


AIDA CASTRO


2007-10-25


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2007-10-20


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2007-10-01


TERESA CASTRO


2007-09-20


LÍGIA AFONSO


2007-08-30


JOANA BÉRTHOLO


2007-08-21


LÍGIA AFONSO


2007-08-06


CRISTINA CAMPOS


2007-07-15


JOANA LUCAS


2007-07-02


ANTÓNIO PRETO


2007-06-21


ANA CARDOSO


2007-06-12


TERESA CASTRO


2007-06-06


ALICE GEIRINHAS / ISABEL RIBEIRO


2007-05-22


ANA CARDOSO


2007-05-12


AIDA CASTRO


2007-04-24


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2007-04-13


ANA CARDOSO


2007-03-26


INÊS MOREIRA


2007-03-07


ANA CARDOSO


2007-03-01


FILIPA RAMOS


2007-02-21


SANDRA VIEIRA JURGENS


2007-01-28


TERESA CASTRO


2007-01-16


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2006-12-15


CRISTINA CAMPOS


2006-12-07


ANA CARDOSO


2006-12-04


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2006-11-28


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2006-11-13


ARTECAPITAL


2006-11-07


ANA CARDOSO


2006-10-30


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2006-10-29


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2006-10-27


SÍLVIA GUERRA


2006-10-11


ANA CARDOSO


2006-09-25


TERESA CASTRO


2006-09-03


ANTÓNIO PRETO


2006-08-17


JOSÉ BÁRTOLO


2006-07-24


ANTÓNIO PRETO


2006-07-06


MIGUEL CAISSOTTI


2006-06-14


ALICE GEIRINHAS


2006-06-07


JOSÉ ROSEIRA


2006-05-24


INÊS MOREIRA


2006-05-10


AIDA E. DE CASTRO


2006-04-05


SANDRA VIEIRA JURGENS



ASHES FROM A BURNING LIFE



AISHWARYA KUMAR

2024-10-21




 

 

 

“A basic tenet of somatics holds true for better or for worse: we become what we practice and we’re always practising something" - Alta Starr

 

For the past year, as a researcher, I have been exploring the various articulations of the experience of an encounter. The encounter or in-in, contra-opposition to in Latin, exists in sharp contrast with its employment in contemporary artistic research, those that pay attention to the ecology of the experience of art and critique the divisive project of Modernity. And it is here, within this spiral of the before and beyond – of the experience of artistic practice as a series of ongoing intentional encounters – that I situate the year of knowing Diane Giraud.

I met Giraud for the first time during her showing as a resident artist at Pada Studios in December 2023. Installed at the far end of the studio spaces, a visual piece – what then seemed to propel abstract expressionism – from her series Wonder (Esquisses) suspended from the ceiling first notified me of her presence. None of her works were wholly accessible if you kept your head straight and walked in the most visually accessible places. Neither was she. Since I was only just starting to play with the complexity of encounters, which for me was still an experience in the here and now, I failed to foresee that the following year of getting to know her and her work would retroactively alter the progression of time and space and take me back to moments before our meeting.

 

ON TECHNE

Diane Giraud, of multicultural heritage, educated at the University of the Arts London in Fashion Design and Université Paris X Nanterre in Business Law, trained as a fashion designer under the mentorship of Savile Row tailors, having worked in the couture ateliers of designers like Alexander McQueen and consulted for various startup companies - is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist. Currently based in Lisbon, she has collaborated and showcased her work at Culturgest, the National Museum of Natural History and Science, PADA Studios, and the Roman Theatre Museum of Lisbon, supported by the Lisbon City Council, cultural advisor Dr. Catarina Vaz Pinto, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, and the Gulbenkian Foundation.

Giraud’s history with materials or the materiality of materials attests to the interdisciplinary quality of her work - invoking her understanding of technique and practice. She invites the audience into tactile, kinesthetic, and philosophical exploration with the work (paintings, installations, performances, situations), of the space they enter, the self, and experiences concerning the human condition. Self-admittedly, a precocious reader of a constellation of eclectic books from 20th-century sci-fi to French literature and parts of Balzac’s anthology La Comédie Humaine as a child, her relationship to existential dread, tragedy, and comedy of human existence, hints at the influence of 19th and 20th-century French philosophy in her works. At the same time, disclosing tactically, the cultural cacophony – French, Vietnamese, and Greek – that she is, her practice has remained loyal to the spaces in between – the questions concerning perspectives that resist dualisms. Needless to say, the task here is to combat against throwing Diane into the nebulous ‘global citizenship’ discourse or drawing fixed contours around her work. The task, a deceptively unassuming one, is to reveal how the preciseness of her skill ties together multitudes in a manner worth paying attention to.

And so, I turn to questions concerning techne and the practice of making of this artist-artisan that evades the sharp objectivity assumed in forms. While listening to her speak, following her assortment of thoughts during the various times we’ve met at cafes, openings, or celebrations, or over the voice notes which by now I can assume begin with “Heyy Aishwarya…”, I notice a part of the iceberg that portrays a rigorous engagement with the inherent value of visual perception – one resisting the influence of linguistic dogmatism – which levitates around questions concerning reality. In consistently revisiting the themes but also the materials with which she thinks through the themes, not only is Giraud’s technique like that of a sculptor – a process of finding form forever at a horizon but also likens to the practice of philosophers for some of whom repetition is a discipline – a recursivity embedded with a difference.

This movement towards a horizon, which in Diane’s case is a horizon of liminality, has led to creations and recreations that contemplate the latent and potential value of the materials and questions. Sitting at A Padaria Portuguesa in Graça on October 10th, I asked Diane to help me understand this process. Then I watched as she managed, with forensic attentiveness, to convey her intent and practice that operates by tapping into the interiority of the human condition - of processes, habits, concepts, and thoughts, so specific to humans – differently to the rest and particular to the self, that they transcend individual and culturally specific temporalities without suggesting superiority to other species – “We build complicated systems that separate us, but it’s the same old, same old”. Burning paper, revisiting themes, reshaping ideas, all of it seems to be the desire to shed these systems. As she showers me with a constellation of references from fashion, contemporary art, literature, independent cinema, and culture studies, I ask why, what emerges from these influences, is non-referential, Giraud exclaims “I’m not trying to hide, but neither do I want to format your way of thinking. I’m trying to build a relationship with you”. So let the artist talk to you, in a way they know how.

Integral to the process of conversing is the notion of time, an element that is embodied in the theme and the manner in which Giraud choreographs the exhibition. As witnessed in the curatorial statement of the series A Private History: Fragments (2015-2016), showcased at The National Museum of Natural History and Science which is “a series of experimentations that led to the use of meticulous processes including taping and borrowing from the gold leaf laying technique to apply burnt papers and ashes piece by piece on the canvases”, time becomes a critical player in the making of the series.

Beyond the obvious nature of time in the process, Giraud examines her relationship and identity at different moments in her life, which along with the materials she works with, is experimented with - “The artist chose to burn some books from her own collection including literary novels and anthologies, business law and political science essays as well as fashion magazines. Through trial, she developed an understanding of which texture, colour and size of fragments she wanted to achieve. In some of the canvases, remnants of the original pieces though barely recognisable pop out in fragments of wording or imagery. Never complete, they are left for the viewers to discover and wander in these unseen existences, juxtaposing metaphors of life and death in an attempt to demonstrate that everything is everything” (Giraud).

Repetition. Training. Precision. Visual. Non-verbal. Revision. Reverie. The pieces of this series demonstrate everything I have said until now. So I turn to the presence of visuality interspersed with text. Giraud reiterates the long-standing presence of the material and materiality of books in her life – from childhood through her graduation in Law – which her artistic work seems to emulate a ritualistic turn away from. But rather than an emancipatory gesture of giving it all up, she plays with the very material of books, materiality of what it conveys, the grammatical discipline of correctness, and liberates herself from the weight of words. Not only has she burned some of her books in the process of making the material that would contribute to her visual works such as the one seen above, but the intention to leave behind traces of the books alludes to a desire of wanting to disclose what she has placed under the scanner – the assumed value of spoken languages, or rather what she is and has been moving towards - the inherent value of visual work. The process of burning the books brings together the reverie of the object(s) – of what it has been and what it could be – showcasing her experimental method of dealing with the relationship with both, thereby refusing the stability that both offer, if objectified.

I attempt one more time, to understand her reason for interrogating the given value of words. Having been brought up in a universe made up of language, Giraud wonders about their capacity to mislead. Simultaneously, she muses about the weight that words accumulate over time, affording themselves a prescriptive value. Not wanting to pre-empt what the audience thinks about when encountering her art – she steers clear of referencing what they find to what informed its creation process. Seeking and inviting the audience to meditate over what she is saying, and expecting them to take a step further and continue the conversation. This extension on Giraud’s part to speak to the audience, but also as an expectation installed upon the spectators, reconciles with the experience I have had with her work for the past year. Of her work becoming a site of momentary encounters through which pass ideas, materials, spectators, and relationships, always between what was and what could be – of liminality.

 

ON PRAXIS

One often thinks of liminality in relation to the practice of performing arts (also a form explored by Giraud), but to experience it in visual pieces, which have traditionally promised permanence (at least relatively) and lucidity, is a feat of Giraud’s, I am coming to appreciate over the past few months. Already with A Arte Da Conversação installed at the Fernando Santos Gallery in 2015 – a participatory installation with text instructions left to the discretion of the viewers to enter these curtained spaces and perform or ignore the action written on the floor in front of each curtained hub – Giraud began blending the experience of visual and performance art as interventions, where the encounter of her work with the audience would interrupt into the normality of gallery spaces, converting them from spectators to actors as they responded in real-time to the performance her work was choreographing - despite her absence.

In 2018, Giraud co-founded In Limen with her brother Pierre Giraud to construct participatory experiences in site-specific contexts. Having picked up on the sense of isolation and disconnect already installed by the digital condition, one reaffirmed through forced isolation during COVID-19 in 2020, the spectre of the need to address connection and interaction drove the practice's creations. The series, designed as 5 long editions were imagined around MEMORY: Are we inheriting of our Ancestors’ personal histories?, DEATH: Why Sadness in the face of Death?, NORMALITY: Is there a healthy imperative into defining Normality?, INTIMACY: How the Society of the Digital irreversibly impacted genuine human interaction?, CONSCIOUSNESS: Will Artificial Intelligence defeat the notion of Humanity?

Awarded and supported by Dra. Catarina Vaz Pinto, The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Lisbon City Hall, EGEAC, PADA Studios and the Ministry of Culture of Portugal, In Limen showcased their first edition work in 2019 - On Memory: Are We Inheriting Our Ancestor’ Personal Histories? at the Teatro Romano, Archeological site and Museum of Lisbon. Dating back to the 1st Century, having submerged, like more of Lisbon during the 1755 earthquake, and having excavated since the 1960’s, Teatro Romano seemed conducive to Giraud’s questions around memory - what is remembered, what one chooses to remember, and how one remembers. The show begins at the ticket line where the audience is handed an envelope only to be opened at a later stage of the experience. Thereon, Giraud extends the stage to the audience, inviting them onto it at the end of the act by the performers - intentionally shifting the role of the audience, who would otherwise be tourists to the site, into active ingredients of the conversation.

Developing the practice of invitation and extensions further, Giraud went on to create This is Not a Magritte Performance Edition #1 at MONO, Lisboa (2020), This is Not a Magritte Performance Edition #2 at Pada Studios (2020), and This is Not a Magritte Performance Edition #3 at Culturgest (2023) which forms a part of a separate series LES ÉDITIONS COURTES. Designed as forty-five minutes to hour-long experiences (ART EXPERIENCES), the series is broken up similarly wherein the first act intends to open the guests emotionally through dance, art piece, or a visual installation, which is followed by the second act where Giraud and her works create meaningful conversations “enabled by playful protocol on a curated topic”. While these acts are not explicitly present in her visual works, Giraud sees her practice through In Limen and her installations such as A Private History: Fragments but also Splendid Stories of Disorder (II), 2015-2017 at Hub Criativo do Beato in 2017, and Fragments D’un Discours Poétique, 2015 showcased during a live salon at Underdogs Gallery in 2015, as generative catalysts for her desire to forge new ways of conversing:

  

When divisiveness seemingly prevails in society.
When unkind interactions are normalized,
When hyper-connectedness is a fragile mask for greater social isolation,

We want to recreate a sense of belonging,
We want to support the art of conversation,
We want to nurture authentic interactions between people,

In order to create that space,
We needed to explore topics that are intrinsic to our quest as human beings
- No matter our gender, cultural, generational, social or other backgrounds.
- In Limen

 

On the 14th of October, I visited for the first time, Giraud’s studio. While picking up and placing down the various iterations of her work, simultaneously listening to her explain the reasons behind her trajectory, I realised the appropriateness of having scheduled this visit at the end of writing about her work. One hour into the visit, I turned to see her pace back and forth while talking about her recursive return to the human condition of the desire for freedom. Watching her watch the floor while she walked and talked displayed, for the first time, her reverie for the visual and experiential – the urge and desire to stay with perennially critical topics, which at times become topical.

Reviewing her work through this gesture of pacing sheds some light on the need and role of art in conditions imbued with crisis of varying degrees. For Giraud, disconnection from the self and others, impacted by sophisticated designs of the digital, linguistic, and cultural, contribute largely towards individualisation rather than relationality. Her practice, which at first glance could be placed in visual arts, performing arts, social art, or otherwise, sits in fact, in the spaces in between. Referring to herself as "a painter without paint", her works invite the spectator into universes which are constructed with variables of human and more-than-human – as a way to do art that showcases a burning world while also forging new connections through the shared experience of the ember. Yet again, it seems that Giraud’s artistic practice – of foretelling and dealing with the aftermath of the encounter – one experienced on a global scale this time – seeks to sustain its effect for all those who were perhaps still struck by the first impact.

Brutally infusing her work, is the practice of reverie concerning the way humans build relationships. It seems critical to return to this while finding some conclusions for this study of Giraud’s practice. Having stepped over what I find to be a highly boring, anthropocentric and positivist agenda found in metaphors of the rising phoenix, Giraud’s work, in fact, addresses the death she facilitates - that of words, isolation, certainty, and reality. Through a disciplined and detailed experimentation of materials, experiences, and concepts, her work could be read, over time, as an argument for meditative practices - showing, as she demands from the audience – to pay attention to practice that grounds the process of becoming.

 

 

Aishwarya Kumar
An independent artist-curator and PhD candidate with an FCT scholarship at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Aishwarya Kumar engages in systems that examine and order the world – from form to practice –through performance. With a background in Dance, Physical Theatre, and Information Arts from India and Media and Performance Studies from the Netherlands, her ongoing research and practice on curiosity in the 21st century intersects corporeal literacies, neuroscience, philosophy, and artistic research. Over the years, she has collaborated for publications, editorials, performances, mixed media installations, cultural projects, and exhibitions across Mumbai, Bangalore, London, Fort Kochi, Greece, Goa, Utrecht, and Lisbon. Her recent work and writings are available through Junctions Journal (2021), ARIAS, Amsterdam (2022), Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2023), 4K/less (2023), AYNI: Theorems of Reciprocity (2024), and Contemporanea (2024). website | Instagram

 

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Diane Giraud, portrait. © Pascal Montary

 

Diane Giraud
As a self-taught multidisciplinary artist from Paris with a multicultural heritage (Vietnamese, Greek, and French), Diane Giraud built her artistic foundation as a trained fashion designer, mentored by Savile Row tailors and working in the couture ateliers of designers like Alexander McQueen. Now based in Lisbon, she focuses on interdisciplinary site-specific installations and participatory performances incorporating visual arts, sound, video, text, and conversations. Her collaborations include institutions such as Culturgest, the National Museum of Natural History and Science, PADA Studios, and the Roman Theatre Museum of Lisbon and have been supported by the Lisbon City Council, cultural advisor Dr. Catarina Vaz Pinto, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, and the Gulbenkian Foundation. website | instagram

 


>> Upcoming: Group show opening during Lisbon Art Week from 7-24 November, 2024, through Atelier Concorde curated by Alexia Alexandropoulou.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Notes on the images captions

 

Images 10. and 11. Splendid Stories of Disorder: Soundscape “Time Does Not Exist” (29’19’’) produced in collaboration with Aurélien Rivière.

Images 15. 16. and 17. This Is Not A Magritte Performance, Edition 2: Vocal Acoustic Performance with artists Mariana B. Camacho and Sara Rodrigues + Audience conversations.

Images 18. and 20.  This Is Not A Magritte Performance, Edition 3: With dancer/ choreographer Filipa Peraltinha. Soundscape produced in collaboration with Aurélien Rivière.