To satisfactorily be in a relationship is one of the biggest challenges for individuals in the contemporary world, specially – as pointed up by the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman – on account of the strong impact caused by this era’s modern fluidity. Among other ideas, relationships today would resemble consumption relations, rejecting preservation in favour of exchange (without a money back guarantee).
In Quase Amor (Almost Love), a group of works with clear procedures and direct relations – sometimes with the explicit use of keywords – brings with perspicuity some reflections stemmed from the search to make sense of relationship experiences.
Among the clearest, one of the conceptions of love here is the institutionalized love, a socially affirmed relationship – since, after all, marriage, family and even the traditional love letter are conventional manifestations. This regard is also toned by insecurity and, perhaps, even pessimism. There is little faith in this institutionalization of love as the mechanism that can possibly sustain it. One foresees situations from rupture, that produces a fury of torn paper, to others in which desire is consumed (and consequentially left behind) and in place of love, only the almost remains.
We can also see other moments in the journey of relating: with the same amount of uncertainty, references to the suffering caused by anticipation appear, whose strength shows that the apex of excitement can be lived long before actual love, by focusing only on the yet to happen. In order to minimize anxiety, the artist attempts to define love, to compare it to other phenomena, to put in words. This venture is admittedly failed.
Once the relationships are established, insecurity manifests from the feeling of a fragile balance between the ‘I’ and the other. What was built by two can, at any moment, be broken. Bauman suggests that this feeling became more intense precisely as personal relations became more flexible. Even with a possibly reactionary tone (noticed more by an interpretation than from his actual words), his statements arouse the determination of lovers.
Let’s think, for example, about the idea of love as an investment, also brought by Bauman. It causes the fear of lack of return and loss of invested capital. Here, the analogous image (not less uncomfortable) is the game of chance figured through the dice, where individuals bet without winning assurance. Relating with someone else is sometimes viewed as an estimation of gain and loss and not as the establishment of a bond. It is important to remember that if we call love a game, we should discard notions such as victory and defeat.
However, if (influenced by the sociologist) I have presented warnings about the difficulties, the artists’ idea in trying to talk about relationships does not emphasize the obstacles, but precisely the “despite them”: it’s worth to take risks, it’s worth to fall in love, it’s worth to go forward. It’s not up to me to evaluate if this worthiness comes just from the human need to connect, even if to discard later and living only the initial stages, expecting the bond to happen without effort; but it’s worth (with an apology for the repetition) to reflect upon it. As simply put by Bauman, commenting Plato: “It is not by being eager for ready, complete and concluded things that love finds its meaning”. The concept of relationship as a progressive construction allows us to grow beyond the initial overwhelm and, with the addition of courage, we walk forward to the unknown – the only possible prospect in the activity of loving.
The Almost Love from the title, finally, doesn’t refer exactly to the lack or loss of love, but to the impossibility of this concrete venture (in the form of an exhibition) of providing an account for love, of making this experience material and shareable. Naturally, this doesn’t prevent them from trying.
In Quase Amor (Almost Love), a group of works with clear procedures and direct relations – sometimes with the explicit use of keywords – brings with perspicuity some reflections stemmed from the search to make sense of relationship experiences.
Among the clearest, one of the conceptions of love here is the institutionalized love, a socially affirmed relationship – since, after all, marriage, family and even the traditional love letter are conventional manifestations. This regard is also toned by insecurity and, perhaps, even pessimism. There is little faith in this institutionalization of love as the mechanism that can possibly sustain it. One foresees situations from rupture, that produces a fury of torn paper, to others in which desire is consumed (and consequentially left behind) and in place of love, only the almost remains.
We can also see other moments in the journey of relating: with the same amount of uncertainty, references to the suffering caused by anticipation appear, whose strength shows that the apex of excitement can be lived long before actual love, by focusing only on the yet to happen. In order to minimize anxiety, the artist attempts to define love, to compare it to other phenomena, to put in words. This venture is admittedly failed.
Once the relationships are established, insecurity manifests from the feeling of a fragile balance between the ‘I’ and the other. What was built by two can, at any moment, be broken. Bauman suggests that this feeling became more intense precisely as personal relations became more flexible. Even with a possibly reactionary tone (noticed more by an interpretation than from his actual words), his statements arouse the determination of lovers.
Let’s think, for example, about the idea of love as an investment, also brought by Bauman. It causes the fear of lack of return and loss of invested capital. Here, the analogous image (not less uncomfortable) is the game of chance figured through the dice, where individuals bet without winning assurance. Relating with someone else is sometimes viewed as an estimation of gain and loss and not as the establishment of a bond. It is important to remember that if we call love a game, we should discard notions such as victory and defeat.
However, if (influenced by the sociologist) I have presented warnings about the difficulties, the artists’ idea in trying to talk about relationships does not emphasize the obstacles, but precisely the “despite them”: it’s worth to take risks, it’s worth to fall in love, it’s worth to go forward. It’s not up to me to evaluate if this worthiness comes just from the human need to connect, even if to discard later and living only the initial stages, expecting the bond to happen without effort; but it’s worth (with an apology for the repetition) to reflect upon it. As simply put by Bauman, commenting Plato: “It is not by being eager for ready, complete and concluded things that love finds its meaning”. The concept of relationship as a progressive construction allows us to grow beyond the initial overwhelm and, with the addition of courage, we walk forward to the unknown – the only possible prospect in the activity of loving.
The Almost Love from the title, finally, doesn’t refer exactly to the lack or loss of love, but to the impossibility of this concrete venture (in the form of an exhibition) of providing an account for love, of making this experience material and shareable. Naturally, this doesn’t prevent them from trying.
Felipe Quérette
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário