Camila Sposati. Breathing Pieces (Part 2)

About

The Brazilian artist and researcher Camila Sposati, known for her interdisciplinary work, is showing the second part of her first solo exhibition in Germany at the ifa Gallery in Berlin. The exhibition represents a journey into the complex connections between sound, nature and the symbiotic interconnections of culture, history, science and politics.

Conversation with the artist Camila Sposati and the curators Marcelo Rezende and Bettina Korintenberg: Friday, November 3, 2023, 4:00 p.m

One of the fascinating sources that inspire Sposati's work is anatomical theater and the elemental experience of dissecting bodies. Anatomical theaters emerged during the European Renaissance in the late 16th century and were specialized lecture halls designed for the dissection and autopsy of corpses in front of an audience. They played a central role in advances in medical education and knowledge of the human body. For Sposati, the act of dissection is not a mere historical reference, but a philosophical construct that precedes the physical construction of theater itself.

The exhibition consists of exhibits that emerged from her research in various regions and cultures. It itself takes the form of an anatomical dissection as Sposati examines and uncovers history, materials and elemental forces. The exhibition begins with an examination of crystals, then moves to the artistic metamorphosis inspired by the eternal fire of Derweze (a crater in Turkmenistan in which natural gas has been burning continuously since 1971), continues into the anatomy of the anatomical theater and finds their sonic climax in the Phonosophia series of instruments – a complex artistic exploration of the profound philosophy of sound.

Sposati's interest in the nature of sound, which she explores in Phonosophia , leads to an experience that goes beyond mere hearing and feeling, as she views sounds as an evolutionary form of communication across generations. The central elements of the exhibition are the wind instruments made of ceramic and balata (a type of natural rubber) from the Amazon region. During the exhibition period in Berlin, they go through a transformation process and become something that defies conventional cultural categorization. They are no longer mere instruments, but develop into enigmatic structures that actively question common cultural ideas and determine the conditions of encounter with the viewer.

Fundamental to Sposati's artistic philosophy is the compelling demand for a paradigm shift in the perception of objects, especially when they are ethnographically significant. She believes that objects should not be subject to the control of the viewer, but rather should determine the conditions in which they are viewed. This change in perspective gives the objects an active role by guiding the viewer through hidden levels of meaning, which are brought to light in a unique way in the context of Berlin. Atem-Stücke invites viewers to see the complex interplay of elements, history and the multi-layered human experiences with a new perspective.

Camila Sposati is an artist and researcher born in São Paulo. She holds a Master's degree in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College London and currently lives in Vienna, where she is a fellow in the PhD program of the Academy of Fine Arts. Her works have been shown, among others, at the Kunsthalle Wien (2021), Tabakalera, Donostia-San Sebastian (2020), Pivô Arte e Pesquisa, São Paulo (2019), Goethe-Institut São Paulo (2019), BAK - basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht (2017), 10th Mercosul Biennale, Porto Alegre (2015), CCBB Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro (2015), 3rd Bahia Biennale, Salvador (2014), Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris (2012) issued.
Sposati published the book Stone Theater by Revolver (Berlin, 2016). In her work she examines transformation and energy processes on a microscopic and global level. Their methods are similar to scientific research. In doing so, she compares material and historical processes in order to question the material in its formal time and its meaning. Her Phonosophia instruments address the reversibility of the role of object and subject, which raises the question of who these actors are and what an “object” is. Her musical instruments pay particular attention to the importance of the musician's body and the instrument and how these bodies evoke each other.

Curated by Marcelo Rezende and Bettina Korintenberg.

The first part of the Breath Pieces exhibition was shown from May 13th to August 20th, 2023 in the ifa Gallery Stuttgart.