Leonor Antunes

A secluded and pleasant land, in this land I wish to dwell, 2014

In terms of its diverse references to architectural history and culture the multimedia Installation A secluded and pleasant land, in this land I wish to dwell, 2014, reflects Leonor Antunes’ key method of using the replica and the duplicate as an implied criticism of modernism. The multimedia installation is the result of an intensive research process into culture, craftwork and architecture in Brazil. For example, Leonor Antunes measured the house of the architect João Batista Vilanova Artigas and used the proportions and measurements to create a sculpture. The measurements of the blackish-red linoleum floor space correspond to those of the terrace where Artigas and his Communist friends met to conspire together during the era of the military dictatorship. Furthermore the central factor is provided by Antunes’ study of the female architect, designer and curator Lina Bo Bardi. Two space dividers composed of vertically-cut wenge-wood rods are united by a white cotton line to create a free-standing three-dimensional structure. This construct echoes the dimensions and ornamental features of a wall structure created by Bo Bardi in 1988 for the Casa do Benin in northeast Brazil. The hemp rope that hangs in form of a rectangular grid shape beneath the ceiling, and the three nets hanging up from the hemp rope, reference to the practices of the indigenous people.