Collection
Tartaruga e papagaio estranho [Turtle and Strange Parrot]
- 2011
- Colour chromogenic copy
- 45 x 60 cm
- Cat. F_165
- Acquired in 2014
Joâo Maria Gusmâo (1979) and Pedro Paiva (1977) are a Portuguese duo who joined forces in 2001 at the University of Lisbon. Their work invites viewers to question their capacity for perception, presenting scenes and elements charged with mystery that force the imagination to work. They describe their sculptures, films, photographs and installations as 'poetic-philosophical fictions', reflecting their fascination with the inexplicable and even the paranormal. Their latest projects are based on 'abysmology', a neologism coined by writer René Daumal (1908-1944) to describe the invented study of the 'abyss'. This science seeks to redefine spirituality by studying the limits of perception and the magic of things. In the works of Gusmdo and Paiva we see everyday situations and objects onto which layers of fiction are superimposed, turning them into extraordinary worlds.
Tartaruga e papagaio estranho (2011) depicts an interior space in which a parrot appears to be dropping a tortoise as it flies past a kind of bookcase containing a range of very disparate objects. Like most of the works by the duo, these three photographs generate and display microworlds that allow us to visualise the unimaginable.
Other works by João Maria y Pedro Gusmão y Paiva