Ricardo Valentim, »Contents of the Lecture 'Models of Democracy'«, 2012, flowchart, Courtesy of the artist
Ricardo Valentim presented his project »Contents of the Lecture 'Models of Democracy'« as part of his show »Growth and Culture« at the Serralves Museum, Porto in 2012. He had already shown partial versions of the work as early as 2008, presenting several of the sculptures that comprise the piece in gallery exhibitions. In its 2011 iteration, it emerged as printed matter inserted into the artist’s book, »Activity«, which he co-edited with the artist Pedro Barateiro. After the work’s presentation in its finished form last year at Serralves, he decided to produce a flowchart to explicate its underlying conceptual premise.
For the »Museum Off Museum« blog, he has published this chart for the first time, along with a visual essay he has created to illustrate the themes behind »Contents of the Lecture 'Models of Democracy'«. The essay comprises documentation of the installation of the work at Serralves, as well as new photographs by the artist of the façades of a museum, a library, and a school. These sites were chosen as a parallel representation of the elements that constitute the work. His interest in such institutions lies in their roles as sites of cultural display that are used to support the production of knowledge and the consumption of it. The role of the museum is maintained by a social and cultural pattern, which these distinct educational institutions perform in order to reinforce identity and define society. Over the course of two days, Valentim shot more than 60 medium-format slides of different institutional buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn. In the end, he chose to display only three as an extension of the visual content of the flowchart.
Ricardo Valentim
*1978 in Loulé/Portugal, lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Ricardo Valentim is best known for his film screenings and lecture pieces, but works across a variety of media, including radio, printed matter, photography, and sculpture. His work has been shown in many international venues including (selection): Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo; unitednationsplaza at e-flux, New York; Manifesta 7, Trentino – South Tyrol; Statements/Art Basel 38, Basel; Frac Île-de-France/Le Plateau, Paris; Andrew Roth Gallery, New York; and MUSAC, Leon. Recently he presented »Growth and Culture« at the Serralves Foundation Museum of Contemporary Art, in Porto; »Film Festival« at the Cneai – Centre National Édition Art Image, in Chatou; and »Post« at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen. In 2011, Ricardo Valentim co-edited the artist’s book »Activity«, with Pedro Barateiro, as part of the Christoph Keller Book Series for JRP|Ringier, Zurich.
