Galeria Quadrado Azul
Porto, Portugal

Solo exhibition

Sentences can always be translated into other sentences, and translations often evolve into new translations. “Cavazaque Piu Piu” is such a case, put forward by Francisco Moura, a steam-machine operator from Seixal. Partly an expression of nonsense, partly an anecdote relating to naming misunderstandings, it is both a gift and and a curse in the quest for meaning.

As an installation, “Cavazaque Piu Piu” gathers a group of painted fibreglass sculptures, lit by a synchronised lighting system, alongside a recorded monologue in which one voice splits into several characters.

Played as a speculative praise of smell as a deviant methodology for knowledge, the soundtrack, titled
For a history of smells, is thus performed across a set of sculptures which, one by one, incorporate the speech as their own.

With an exaggerated and playful approach, “Cavazaque Piu Piu” conjures a warning about knowledge-making with a deviant animal/direct/amateur attitude.