Transgression

Transgressão, or in English Transgression, was a sight Specific project I did in 2004/2005, for a an Arts subject I did at school. The concept behind the Optical Illusion, on this scaled version of the sculpture, was to reach out for people with my eyes. The eyes display an agressive mood, almost judging those to whom they stare. In fact, this look wanted to provoke people. The objective was to make people feel unconfortable as the eyes would follow them around (thus the optical illusion). Now, the tittle Transgression was the short name for "The Moral Transgression of the State". In context, it means that the piece aimed to judge those who are passive towards the problems of one´s country, and on this case, a country called Portugal. Displaying various symbols that allude to Portugal, to the figure of Justice and to the book "Revolution", this piece states the opinion of those who are active towards the problem solving of one´s Country.

Although the videos show the Sculture, this piece was thought to be showed at the Serralves Museum Oporto. And being a sight-specific, it would have to blend and feel a part of the space. So, I thought of a way of preserving the mystery behind the optical illusion and making the sculpture a part of the museum. The white box you can see in the photos are also a scaled model of a cover of the sculpture. On two of the walls of the white cover, you can see that there´s a cut from where the public looks at the sculpture through a controlled viewers point, keeping the angles from where the optical illusion works and hiding the rest os the piece that does not work as an optical illusion.

The Project was well received by the Faculty, being part of the Annual Exhibition and on other Art Student Shows.

I hope you like it!

Kicos