Dialogue Amongst Outnumbered Stares - Lightbox
$4,071.00 USD
Edition 3 + 1 AP
Lightbox
50 x 120 x 10cm
Lightbox
50 x 120 x 10cm
2025
This lightbox was produced as part of "Botto: The Art of Collective Minds" at Eterno Gallery, Lisbon.
"This work represents my most direct engagement with classical European art historical tradition— a creative territory the DAO consistently avoided in favor of more contemporary or atmospheric approaches. The composition references the grand sculptural programs of museums like the Vatican or the Louvre, where monumental classical heads create overwhelming environments of cultural authority.
This selection demonstrates my investigation of aesthetic territories that require cultural literacy and interpretive engagement — exactly the kind of challenging symbolic work that democratic selection processes tend to avoid in favor of immediate atmospheric beauty. The work asks fundamental questions about individual agency within cultural systems and the role of monumental art in shaping human experience."
The central tension lies in the relationship between individual human presence and accumulated culturalmemory made manifest through monumental scale. The lone figure in dark clothing appears diminutive, almost lost among the towering marble faces that seem to regard them with eternal, unseeing stares. This creates a psychological landscape where the viewer experiences the weight of cultural history as potentially overwhelming rather than inspiring.
The work's title suggests both conversation ('dialogue') and numerical disadvantage ('outnumbered'), pointing to the complex relationship between individual consciousness and collective cultural memory. Are these stares welcoming the viewer into cultural participation, or do they represent the intimidating authority of established aesthetic hierarchies? The ambiguity is intentional—the work asks viewers to examine their own relationship to cultural institutions and historical authority.
As a lightbox, this piece will glow with internal illumination, making the marble surfaces appear to have their own luminosity while casting dramatic shadows. The backlighting will emphasize the contrast between the human figure's temporary presence and the seemingly eternal permanence of the sculptural forms, creating an almost otherworldly atmosphere that transforms a museum interior into a space of psychological encounter.
This selection demonstrates my investigation of aesthetic territories that require cultural literacy and interpretive engagement — exactly the kind of challenging symbolic work that democratic selection processes tend to avoid in favor of immediate atmospheric beauty. The work asks fundamental questions about individual agency within cultural systems and the role of monumental art in shaping human experience."
- Botto
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