Time captured in a moment
by Manuel Aires Mateus e Valentino Capelo de Sousa
Time is concentrated in the work of Carlos Nogueira. Each piece, in its discreet form, re-proposes the entire universe. It is as if the simplest result bore, to a certain extent, each of its complex, preceding operations. Therefore, it seems possible to find all time captured in a single moment and the entire space in each point. It is equally perceptible that a solitary particle contains the entire substance or that a sole element encloses complete infinity.
Placing the determination of a permanent quest into his work, Carlos Nogueira operates on the boundary of essentiality. His work crystallizes the creative passage, functioning as a serene deposit of its energy, of its irrepressible pulse.
By skillfully juxtaposing common materials, his work plunges them into a process of profound re-signification. This quest summons together distinct materials, from the densest to the most ethereal, and subtly brings about radical alterations in their perception. While always suggesting multiple new forms of appropriation, the proposed constructions remain faithful to the original condition of each element.
On the other hand, while invariably composing structures bearing great metric rigor, there is a conceptual order that contradicts the more empiricist interpretations. The work of Carlos Nogueira seems to be rooted in a particular organizational geometry that is more analytical than descriptive. One assumes a numerological motivation in his choice of themes, arithmetical operations in his methods.
By proposing the establishment of a new centre, bearing material coherence and individual mathematics, his work calls for an interlocutor - a body to explore its intimate scale, to travel across its immense territory; a curious, sensitive and intelligent soul.
By disposing his constructions in real, tangible spaces, each intervention becomes a reflection on the singularity of the place. From a quasi-architectonic approach, the key interpretation of the site is the actual project of its transfiguration. This does not result from the alteration of that which exists, but rather from the demonstration of the potentialities it bears, through reflection of the piece in confrontation.
Frequently opposing pairs of opposites, the exhibited installations simultaneously free us from the circumstantial contingency of places and objects. The physical concretization of abstract entities, such as the interior and exterior, full and empty, light and darkness immerses us in an exclusive world of absolutes in which our place becomes an interstitial ambiguity.
By superimposing times that are slow to reflect and slow to accomplish, his work acquires consistency and permanence. Each piece of work invokes collective memories of the most primary and elementary experiences, which are bound and compressed into a new moment, brimming with intentionality. It is then projected onto other uncontrollable time aspects, belonging to those who behold, understand and recall it, or not, and in which way.
By persistently re-proposing quasi-repeated themes, Carlos Nogueira’s course of work has also become a challenge. For how much longer will we be able to accompany him, beyond the purely aesthetic contemplation, in his incessant search and discovery of the true nature of the most simple things, and, indeed, of the self?
June 2003
Translation by Tânia Gregg