Exhibition by Caetano Carvalho, "The Island" at WORKSHOP Gallery

Exhibition

The Island and the Ants’ Path at Workshop Gallery

Workshop Gallery, Jisr El Basha

01 494 552 ext 203

Oct 23 till Dec 10

Opening: 23 Oct at 6:00 pm

Performance, sound and technology play a pivotal role in the work of Caetano Carvalho who arrives in Lebanon for the first time in October for his latest exhibition.

Caetano Carvalho is interested in observing and bending social systems/spaces by using a diverse range of media and technological tools that are part of our everyday life.

Throughout his artistic practice he has often aimed to break out of standard presentation methods, by situating his work in time rather than space and simultaneously engaging with the local/spatial context in which it takes place to create meaning. The importance of making objects (as memento-mori of complex processes and performances) is very often overrated in the contemporary art system. His aim is to create platforms that deliberately confuse hierarchies and the relationships between theory and practice, gesture/form and critical thought, the role of the artist and that of the viewer. He has always been interested in work that does not necessarily fit within the confines of the typical “white cube” gallery setting.

The artist will be exhibiting at the Workshop Gallery from October 23 till December 10, the opening being from 6:00 till 9:00 p.m. “The Island and the Ants’ Path” is part of a bigger project that aims to experiment with the creation of temporary associations among people and alternative, autonomous realities. Four people are dressed in white suits in order to hide their gender and physical features. They are given a simple set of rules: starting from the city centre, they have to walk towards the south for eight hours. The four performers have a black box on their head, which makes them blind and unable to see their surroundings. They are all tied to each other with a rope (allowing a distance of 1 meter from each other). The last performer in the line has a black box with a small hole on it, which gives him the ability to see and thus direct the rest of the group. The positions of the performers shifts throughout the action, so that all four have the chance to experience the role of the one who sees and leads the group.

In 2014 Caetano will be part of the board deciding the artistic directions of the Amsterdam based art institution, W139. His work has been recently shown at: Impakt (Utrecht, NL); MEXICO (Leeds, UK) and W139 (Amsterdam, NL). He performed at the Mobile Radio of the 30th Sao Paulo Biennial (Brazil), at the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, 2012), Steim (Amsterdam, 2012 and 2011), DNK (Amsterdam, 2009, 2008) and Paradiso (Night of Unexpected, Amsterdam, 2010). He collaborated with The Pirate Bay at the Internet Pavilion in Venice Biennial in 2009, and designed a visualization system for BitTorrent files at Visualizar Medialab Prado (Madrid) in 2009.

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Wonder-Eight

WHAT WE DO

Our practices range from brand creation, to visual identity design, brochures, posters, packaging, stands, signage, graphic decoration, communications, above & below the line campaigns, marketing strategy, online and ambient media buying, copyrighting, creative copy and design consultancy. We also design and develop websites and interactive solutions, advanced UX, Apps, animation and game design. We specialize as well in Illustration and character creation.

ABOUT WONDEREIGHT

We are a Beirut based design agency, working for international and local companies who like to challenge their customers and want to be different and daring. Benefiting from our cultural diversity, we innovate in the fields of branding and visual communication. Our strategic location in the gate of the Middle East allows us to bridge between western and eastern brands and to create concepts that work in their environment while introducing new ways of co-creation.

Founded in 1999 by Nasrala brothers Boudy and Walid, today, with Karim Abourizk also on board it gathers a handful of highly skilled creative designers, web developers and marketing strategists who enjoy a bespoke work environment, made to inspire and interact with the local design and art community. This creative space regroups a design agency, a prototyping workshop a facility for trainings and talks, a handpicked book library and an art exhibition space.

This multifaceted environment keeps on renewing itself and creates a constant synergy between us, our clients, and the public.

E/ROOM - TALKS AND TRAINING

A facility where we give talks and trainings to visitors, covering subjects from our work experience. It also hosts guest speakers and tutors, with access to all the building’s facilities.

The E/Room programs are open for all applicants and are constantly updated on our website.

We’re proud to say that the E/Room is the first room to use Cedarenv.com‘s Eco-Board® and is mostly built from recycled and recuperated material (42 eco-boards equivalent to 153,972 supermarket plastic bags). The roof also collects rainwater in tanks, with which we water our garden.

WORKSHOP GALLERY

Workshop gallery is a new independent exhibition space for contemporary art, hosted within our premises to complete the building’s gestalt.

From its modest 14.3 sqm, it puts the emergent Lebanese and international artists under the spot light, in a mission to encourage the diversity and experimentation of art in the region.

PROTOTYPING WORKSHOP

An experimental lab where we design and prototype objects, prints and accessories we're inspired to create. It’s equipped with tools and machinery to handcraft and realize our ideas from sketches to prototypes, whereas the bigger pieces are produced in neighboring workshops of the industrial city we’re located in; a perfect harmony between our design company and its surrounding environment.

THE LIBRARY

Our workshop also includes a handpicked library of the books that inspire us. It is open to the public for rental and is constantly updated. These books cover design as well as photography, architecture, marketing and more.

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WORKSHOP Gallery - WonderEight Buidling

Jisr El Bacha , Lebanon