“Where does the light go when it’s gone?”, by Gustavo Sumpta

This performance marks the end of the “Construction Site” phase of João Fiadeiro’s INTROSPECTIVE

We opened this “construction site” with the question “What to do from here on backwards?”, we end with the question “Where does the light go when it’s gone?” These are two sides of the same coin, and they serve as the titles of two works by João Fiadeiro (the first premiered at Teatro Maria Matos in 2015 and the second at Culturgest in 2006). In the context of Introspectiva [Introspective], these works take on very different approaches from their original forms. For the first, an “explosive,” fragmented relationship was adopted, involving about 25 performers running around the CCB who, upon returning to the galleries, activated situated micro-performances. For the second, we propose a more contained presence, imploding inward, with the intervention of visual artist and performer Gustavo Sumpta, revisiting his own participation in the performance.

João Fiadeiro and Gustavo Sumpta collaborated for much of the 2000s, bound by an absolutely radical demand for the precision of gesture, a dizzying attraction to the void, and the unwavering belief that if they persist (if they do not try to escape), if they confront what unsettles them head-on (if they do not try to escape), if they accept their mortal condition (if they do not try to escape), sooner or later, a vital gesture will break through the crust of the mundane.

Both installations resulting from the performances will be on display during the afternoon of 2 June, Sunday.