The installation Do Things Still Grow Beneath The Shadow Of Big Trees? depicts an institution which immerses the individuals. The institution is absentminded of each per-son’s will and inclinations. It surrounds the individual, covering his/her existence as if with a mantle. It might even seem to provide shelter, comfort or safety. The institution might have an utterly generous or appealing façade. It might seem to be answering the fears and distresses the individual is facing and offering him/her a safe haven. Yet, the institution is impervious, cold and indifferent.
Those who have come to embrace its calling surrender to it entirely. They become entangled with it. Their singularities are ripped off and only the carcass of their former selves remains as instruments, pillars on which the institution stands. They might carry traces of their former lives, but in fact no individuality is there anymore. They all resemble one another and the institution itself. It becomes ever harder to distinguish each of them. Their features and thoughts are merged into those of the institution in a web of repetitive concepts that leaves no room for self-discovery or critical thinking.
The artist then presents this enclosing, this ever tightening corridor, as a scene for a question left unanswered: Do things still grow beneath the shadow of big trees? The answer lies within the installation, in the empty space and in the movement taking place; and it lies outside, in the exhibition and beyond it, in the streets. The answer is then the silent piece of the installation. Whichever the answer might be it will be revealing.
Eduardo Marques da Costa
From The Bells Brake Down Their Tower 2016 Exhibition
Those who have come to embrace its calling surrender to it entirely. They become entangled with it. Their singularities are ripped off and only the carcass of their former selves remains as instruments, pillars on which the institution stands. They might carry traces of their former lives, but in fact no individuality is there anymore. They all resemble one another and the institution itself. It becomes ever harder to distinguish each of them. Their features and thoughts are merged into those of the institution in a web of repetitive concepts that leaves no room for self-discovery or critical thinking.
The artist then presents this enclosing, this ever tightening corridor, as a scene for a question left unanswered: Do things still grow beneath the shadow of big trees? The answer lies within the installation, in the empty space and in the movement taking place; and it lies outside, in the exhibition and beyond it, in the streets. The answer is then the silent piece of the installation. Whichever the answer might be it will be revealing.
Eduardo Marques da Costa
From The Bells Brake Down Their Tower 2016 Exhibition
