Mostra Pan_Africana de Arte Contemporânea

THE ARTIST IN THE LION’S DEN
Cibele Lucena Jerusa Messina Joana Zatz — Contrafilé

DWELLING
This is the battlefield. Wake up, and realize you’re the only one I can count on in this fight. All around, everywhere, in each and every corner, from all sides, they have spread my word: BEHOLD.*

Full of tension, the lion’s den in the artist’s dwelling.

Inside the den, a linear, stable motion characterizes it as a location that is homogeneous, and free from contradiction. The logic of this motion updates only predictable situations, reproducing meanings in order to maintain the control.

This motion is the target of the artist: it must be interrupted.

THE ARTIST
Angels of light protect me, and my faith is certain. The target is right around the bend, underneath, standing still, waiting for the action that will bring redemption, bring back the integrity of all things, and join it all together.

In a permanent state of vigilance, the artist looks at the lion’s den, and there he sees the whole constellation of possibilities.

He catches a glimpse of an opening: a possibility of subverting the dominant motion. He identifies that which can possibly generate meaning and, by updating it, affirms his political attitude. He inscribes these meanings in order to satisfy radical needs, and to experience life as art.

When art is the starting point for updates that were not forecast by the prevailing movement – for this artist –, it is a political act. Thus, to make art is to produce meaning; to create and inscribe in your own fashion, inaugurating the reflux.

The artist in the lion’s den transforms history by accomplishing that which otherwise would not have been.

THE DISRUPTION OF MOVEMENT
The heroic act of scrap collectors is the state of contemporaneity. Transitoriness, this invisible something I am able to expose. Luminous remainders are all that I have — as we exclude and displace... I try to bring those remainders back to life, which is the circulation of things. In doing so, I change my positioning.

Inside the lion’s den, replete with contradictions, the artist feels complete: the real experience of truth is in contradiction, as is the possibility of disruption. He looks at a situation and sees it as an image of his urgency to inscribe himself; as the point of divergence between that which he is, and that which, for him, would have been.

Therefore, the encoded critical command of the world allows for the realization of the artist: to interrupt the flow, suddenly allowing for another possibility to arise.

SYNTHESIS ARISES OUT OF CONTRADICTION
As I undress myself for the divine encounter, I realize my body is unique, and a repetition. Synthesis arises out of contradiction. To re-produce, like a reflection behind the mirror, or to produce something through reflection, on this side of the mirror. The hope for reinvention is quiet and goes unnoticed.

The artist takes action. He brings up signs of contradiction by creating a fact which symbolizes resistance. A single future-bearing grain, one that opens up a new constellation of possibilities and enables its own spread.

THE CAPTURE
I take the city to myself. Graffiti is an invention. It surpasses the body, extending into the emptiness; with an invisible action, it takes over the urban opening. Here lies the conquest of space. My anonymity is public, and image is mine forever.

For the artist in the lion’s den, the inscribed fact-turned-event is the fulfillment of the reflow, the duration of an unexpectedly updated possibility.
On the other hand, it is natural that the mainstream movement should transform the future-carrying event into another type of event: an image that does not convey an experience. Therefore, according to the logic of reproduction, maintaining a fact until it become event means eliminating it potential for proliferation, sentencing it to death as a symbol of resistance.

THE WEAPONS
Image is circulation.
Image is capturing, editing and manipulating.
Image is a new construction.
Image is a possibility of meta-language.
Image reveals the perverse unilateral display.
Image seduces action.
Image seduces you and builds our world of actions.
Image is counter-image.
Image is just image.
Life is blur. Nothing more.

In order for the event not to be captured, it is crucial for the artist to create both sides of the mirror: the fact and its image. Whenever the artist conceives image as a weapon, he creates another event which, in its own way, proliferates the meaning that was produced in the first event.

Without readiness, the artist is in danger of inscribing the image of the fact, thus confirming the logic of reproduction, becoming his own predator. Therefore, in every situation, the artist in the lion’s den must make sure that a new future-bearing fact is generated.

THE INTERMITTENT LINE
The column breaks the space that it contains. It subverts the isolation imposed by architecture. It creates a synthetic motion in which verticality and horizontality are exacerbated into an infinite straght line — the continuity of a dot. It is also a heroic, guerilla-like, and lyrical action, one in which the intervention makes use of the foreseeable dynamics of the present to generate its recognition, reproducing in the day-to-day scene the weird perception/understanding of something that goes back to itself.

The artist in the lion’s den inhabits the world of art exhibitions like an arena.

He must remain alert because, in this world, new ways of creating the same old things are usually recognized as legitimate art work. Therefore, he must bear in mind that the finality and the usage of the means determine the work’s inscription as resistant or tolerant regarding the dominant movement.

It is crucial for the artist in the lion’s den to have discernment when he uses the same means to a new end: he must confirm his own contradiction.

REDEMPTION
It does not matter what happened, neither does how it happened. All that matters is what is here. My sight is what’s left. One needs to hear the music that reminds of the change that goes on at every moment. Fear not what is coming, because, at the time of our death, we will become that which we have always wanted to be. And, if still something slips away, let it be, for one day we shall all be one. One.

__

* All passages in italic are quotes from the text “Daniel na cova dos leões” (Daniel in the lion’s den), by artist Daniel Lima.


	THE ARTIST IN THE LION’S DEN Cibele Lucena Jerusa Messina Joana Zatz — Contrafilé DWELLING This is the battlefield. Wake up, and realize you’re the only one I can count on in this fight. All around, everywhere, in each and every corner, from all sides, they have spread my word: BEHOLD.* Full of tension, the lion’s den in the artist’s dwelling. Inside the den, a linear, stable motion characterizes it as a location that is homogeneous, and free from contradiction. The logic of this motion updates only predictable situations, reproducing meanings in order to maintain the control. This motion is the target of the artist: it must be interrupted. THE ARTIST Angels of light protect me, and my faith is certain. The target is right around the bend, underneath, standing still, waiting for the action that will bring redemption, bring back the integrity of all things, and join it all together. In a permanent state of vigilance, the artist looks at the lion’s den, and there he sees the whole constellation of possibilities. He catches a glimpse of an opening: a possibility of subverting the dominant motion. He identifies that which can possibly generate meaning and, by updating it, affirms his political attitude. He inscribes these meanings in order to satisfy radical needs, and to experience life as art. When art is the starting point for updates that were not forecast by the prevailing movement – for this artist –, it is a political act. Thus, to make art is to produce meaning; to create and inscribe in your own fashion, inaugurating the reflux. The artist in the lion’s den transforms history by accomplishing that which otherwise would not have been. THE DISRUPTION OF MOVEMENT The heroic act of scrap collectors is the state of contemporaneity. Transitoriness, this invisible something I am able to expose. Luminous remainders are all that I have — as we exclude and displace... I try to bring those remainders back to life, which is the circulation of things. In doing so, I change my positioning. Inside the lion’s den, replete with contradictions, the artist feels complete: the real experience of truth is in contradiction, as is the possibility of disruption. He looks at a situation and sees it as an image of his urgency to inscribe himself; as the point of divergence between that which he is, and that which, for him, would have been. Therefore, the encoded critical command of the world allows for the realization of the artist: to interrupt the flow, suddenly allowing for another possibility to arise. SYNTHESIS ARISES OUT OF CONTRADICTION As I undress myself for the divine encounter, I realize my body is unique, and a repetition. Synthesis arises out of contradiction. To re-produce, like a reflection behind the mirror, or to produce something through reflection, on this side of the mirror. The hope for reinvention is quiet and goes unnoticed. The artist takes action. He brings up signs of contradiction by creating a fact which symbolizes resistance. A single future-bearing grain, one that opens up a new constellation of possibilities and enables its own spread. THE CAPTURE I take the city to myself. Graffiti is an invention. It surpasses the body, extending into the emptiness; with an invisible action, it takes over the urban opening. Here lies the conquest of space. My anonymity is public, and image is mine forever. For the artist in the lion’s den, the inscribed fact-turned-event is the fulfillment of the reflow, the duration of an unexpectedly updated possibility. On the other hand, it is natural that the mainstream movement should transform the future-carrying event into another type of event: an image that does not convey an experience. Therefore, according to the logic of reproduction, maintaining a fact until it become event means eliminating it potential for proliferation, sentencing it to death as a symbol of resistance. THE WEAPONS Image is circulation. Image is capturing, editing and manipulating. Image is a new construction. Image is a possibility of meta-language. Image reveals the perverse unilateral display. Image seduces action. Image seduces you and builds our world of actions. Image is counter-image. Image is just image. Life is blur. Nothing more. In order for the event not to be captured, it is crucial for the artist to create both sides of the mirror: the fact and its image. Whenever the artist conceives image as a weapon, he creates another event which, in its own way, proliferates the meaning that was produced in the first event. Without readiness, the artist is in danger of inscribing the image of the fact, thus confirming the logic of reproduction, becoming his own predator. Therefore, in every situation, the artist in the lion’s den must make sure that a new future-bearing fact is generated. THE INTERMITTENT LINE The column breaks the space that it contains. It subverts the isolation imposed by architecture. It creates a synthetic motion in which verticality and horizontality are exacerbated into an infinite straght line — the continuity of a dot. It is also a heroic, guerilla-like, and lyrical action, one in which the intervention makes use of the foreseeable dynamics of the present to generate its recognition, reproducing in the day-to-day scene the weird perception/understanding of something that goes back to itself. The artist in the lion’s den inhabits the world of art exhibitions like an arena. He must remain alert because, in this world, new ways of creating the same old things are usually recognized as legitimate art work. Therefore, he must bear in mind that the finality and the usage of the means determine the work’s inscription as resistant or tolerant regarding the dominant movement. It is crucial for the artist in the lion’s den to have discernment when he uses the same means to a new end: he must confirm his own contradiction. REDEMPTION It does not matter what happened, neither does how it happened. All that matters is what is here. My sight is what’s left. One needs to hear the music that reminds of the change that goes on at every moment. Fear not what is coming, because, at the time of our death, we will become that which we have always wanted to be. And, if still something slips away, let it be, for one day we shall all be one. One. __ * All passages in italic are quotes from the text “Daniel na cova dos leões” (Daniel in the lion’s den), by artist Daniel Lima.
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