There are turning points in these recent times we are living through that are easily identifiable. But there are other moments – less obvious ones – that herald a change to which we are not all attuned: the group exhibition now on display at Espaço MIRA, right at the start of 2024, is one such change. This exhibition, which is set to take the world of visual arts by storm in a rather unsubtle way, urges us to be prepared for it.

The Amplification of the World is a bold curatorial proposal by Manuel Santos Maia, which explores whether the blending of reality and fiction is in fact an expansion of these concepts, conceiving spaces and bodies in transformation, in a fusion between place and non-place, between organic and synthetic, between fleeting and permanent, between melody and noise, between work of art and becoming.

Whilst academia attempts to investigate the relevance of artificial intelligence, and its possible integration into daily life – and most experts remain sceptical – there are others who utilise it to its fullest creative potential, aware that AI is here to stay and will not announce itself: using image-generation tools via a prompt and subsequent video editing, Elizabete Sousa presents, in a projection, various materialisations, designed to engage and captivate the most discerning viewer. The title does not deceive, yet it still provokes a visual freedom that cannot avoid comparisons, evoking a blend of visual imagery that depends solely on our own mental library, somewhere between a Kubrick-esque cinematic universe, Japanese anime, our worst nightmares involving post-apocalyptic scientific experiments, with a realistic leap to *The Handmaid’s Tale*, ending with complex bodies, difficult to define because they have not yet been invented for a three-dimensional universe. Disturbing, complex visual materialisations by Afonso Loureiro and João Melo, with moving images by Diogo Martins, continue to occupy the spaces of the MIRA gallery with something to which we try to ascribe meaning. Because it is something that gives us comfort, as human beings, ever since we have known ourselves we have sought out recognisable faces, bodies and landscapes. But these large-scale sculptures conceal cameras, lenses and monitors, from which they launch a surrealist provocation that swallows our expectations and leaves us wanting more.

It is through the paintings of João Melo and Michel Bragança that the exhibition takes us to its more pragmatic side, because painting gives us a sense of recognition and an understanding of the medium. Yet even here the materials are the most diverse: found objects serving as supports, paintings that seem unfinished. Through the representation of an artistic becoming, the condition depicted is existential; the gesture of João Melo’s paintings is aggressive, yet delicately sweet, whilst Michel Bragança captivates us with self-portraits rich in moralising interpretations, with the delicate air of a child picking up a paintbrush for the first time (but having already seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, his dreams are no longer innocent).

This exhibition leaves no room for reality, because reality keeps the world imprisoned just as it is. Here, we await an inevitable metamorphosis, embarking on a journey of no return, where anything is possible. It is recommended that we draw on our cinematic references to embark on this journey, as it will become far richer: from, for example, the coveted spice of Lynch’s Dune, through Giger’s designs in Alien, leaping through the saturated colours of A Clockwork Orange, right up to the hyper-contemporary Barbie of 2023.

Fasten your seatbelts.

Joana Mendonça

Curated by: Manuel Santos Maia

Exhibition open from 6 January to 17 February

Acknowledgements: BeatrizTeixeira, Eduardo Loureiro and Nuno Fareleira

CREDITS

Directed by Manuela Matos Monteiro and João Lafuente

Artistic Director Manuel Santos Maia

Gallery Assistant Luísa Rosas da Silva