João Maria Gusmão e Pedro Paiva
Portugal
They met at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon, where both were studying Painting. Their artistic partnership began in 2001, focusing on experimental analogue film, photography, and installation, while simultaneously developing an essayistic body of work that is an active and unifying element of their projects. Their work serves as a vast laboratory of impossible experiments that question empirical knowledge and existential metaphysics.
With a sharp critique of scientific positivism and an aim to bridge the divide between technoscience and poetry, their artistic discourse incorporates aspects such as Alfred Jarry’s Pataphysics or the “science of imaginary solutions,” nonsense, and technological obsolescence. They use outdated image reproduction processes, such as 16 mm film and slide projections, which support an aesthetic vocabulary rooted in philosophical references like Nietzsche, as well as fantastic literature and science fiction.
Their career has gained international recognition through events such as the São Paulo Biennial, Brazil (2006), the Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre (2007), Manifesta 7, Kassel (2008), and PhotoEspaña, Madrid (2008). In 2004, they won the EDP Young Artists Award and represented Portugal at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009.
Source: MNAC/Chiado, Emília Tavares.
With a sharp critique of scientific positivism and an aim to bridge the divide between technoscience and poetry, their artistic discourse incorporates aspects such as Alfred Jarry’s Pataphysics or the “science of imaginary solutions,” nonsense, and technological obsolescence. They use outdated image reproduction processes, such as 16 mm film and slide projections, which support an aesthetic vocabulary rooted in philosophical references like Nietzsche, as well as fantastic literature and science fiction.
Their career has gained international recognition through events such as the São Paulo Biennial, Brazil (2006), the Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre (2007), Manifesta 7, Kassel (2008), and PhotoEspaña, Madrid (2008). In 2004, they won the EDP Young Artists Award and represented Portugal at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009.
Source: MNAC/Chiado, Emília Tavares.
