Scale travels: Lago Libidinal, by Jonathan Uliel Saldanha

May 13, 2022


Under the Scale Travels Residencies, ‘Lago Libidinal‘ was born. Developed in the context of an artistic residency at the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory with Luís Soares Barbosa from the Quantum and Linear-Optical Computation research group, the installation ‘Lago Libidinal’ is a multi-scale system that appears as an extension of the stage piece with the same name.

The surface of an artificial lake serves as a mirrored interface where a viral ecosystem reveals a lymphatic network of inorganic derivatives that feed on the continuous flow of data referring to stock market fluctuations. The aquatic body is a matrix inhabited by lithium, red mercury and bioluminescent fungi that interact with a light mechanism to reveal hidden contaminations and transform them into vectors of contagion.

Musician, visual artist, sound and stage builder, Jonathan Uliel Saldanha is the founder of the collective SOOPA and HHY & The Macumbas. Based on his investigations, he develops syncretic scenic actions between the visual arts, dance and sound, exhibits installations and composes pieces for voice, percussion, electronics and resonant space. It investigates areas of intersection between pre-language, otherness, science fiction, sound as a vector of contagion and the tension between synthetic and landscape.

Jonathan is an associated artist at Teatro Municipal do Porto between 2020 and 2022, where he presented the plays “Mercúrio Vermelho” (2020), “Lithium Faust” (2021) and “3x Drill” (2021). It investigates areas of interception between pre-language, otherness, science fiction, sound as a vector of contagion and the tension between the synthetic and the landscape. He showed his work at Unsound, Palais de Tokyo, Culturgest and Serralves, among many other venues.

+ From 12 May to 15 August
+ Free entrance
+ INL Gallery at www.gnration.pt