Archive

The patient exercise of destruction

Pedro Lagoa

OPEN CLASSES OF CONTEMPORARY ARTISTIC PRACTICES_2024_25
DECEMBER 4TH OF 2024, 5.30PM
ROOM 34 OF EP1 – ESAD.CR

A destructive act is always the expression of a refusal. Whether this refusal is directed against an objective materiality or against an abstract existence, such as that of ideas and concepts, and whether it operates on a more symbolic level or has a greater impact on reality, it is exercised in and against the Present, against the time that generated it, in an attempt to break away from repetition, against the perpetuation of the instant.
This type of refusal can be found throughout history in the most diverse contexts and situations where there is a desire to rebalance and redefine power relations, opening up utopian possibilities for recreating and reconfiguring reality and its representations.
For this session, I propose looking at some of my work, where these ideas of destruction and refusal play an important role, in a dual condition of object of work and critical tool that decisively influences the processes of work and production.
The projects to be presented include the archive of destruction and some of its manifestations and materialisations. As a project that deals mainly with appropriation and archival images, it will be an opportunity to address some issues related to the nature of images – and of images in art – in a world dominated by overproduction and accelerated circulation-consumption of visualities. 

Pedro Lagoa is an artist whose work has mainly revolved around specific practices and concepts of destruction. Exploring the potential of the destructive act as an expression of refusal and a critical tool that cuts across different temporalities, his practice encompasses a variety of media, often in the form of installation, publication or video. His work has been presented internationally at venues such as: Appleton, Lisbon, (2023); Culturgest, (2020); Art Polygon, Gwangju (2018); Gasworks, London (2014); Museu de Serralves, Porto (2014); Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich (2013); Nam June Paik Art Centre, Gyeonggi-do (2010); Portikus, Frankfurt (2007).