CURIOSITY

Female curiosity, the compulsive desire to see, know and investigate, is a characteristic that dates back to Pandora and Eve and is often invested with a negative value while male curiosity is often considered a virtue and referred to as investigative curiosity. The woodenbox was built by my husband João Carlos Castro Neves. The multimedia installation Curiosity presents female curiosity as its central subject and consists of the following elements:
i) a wooden box, inspired by the peep shows of the 17th century, inside of which is a small atrium with a door leading to a room in a house;
ii) a video based on three fairy tales, namely Bluebeard, Sleeping Beauty and East of the Sun and West of the Moon that can be viewed on a screen placed inside the room mentioned above. To view the video the viewer has to open the door and peek into the room imbued with the same curiosity as the heroines of the fairy tales we mentioned. Throughout the creation of the videos, I use Brechtian and Derridian deconstructive strategies typical of the experimental film and video, among which the inclusion of extra-diegetic elements like intertitles that constitute pauses for reflection between scenes and evoke silent films; the direct addressing of the spectator; the performative parody, and; the fragmentation and non-linearity of the narrative. The Curiosities project resulted from an invitation by the artist Jane Gilmor, responsible for the Janalyn Hanson White Gallery, Mount Mercy College, to participate in the exhibition In The Middle - On the Edge: New Portuguese Art, Part II, Iowa, USA, that took place from February 8 to March 14, 2008.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

– Curiosity, 2008, video 'loop' (10:00): color, sound, HD (PAL).
– 1 portable DVD player HDTV (PAL), LCD 10.2" (26 cm). Rotating system.
– 1 wooden case with 24 (W) x 32 (H) x 55 (L) cm.
– 1 pillar with 24 (W) x 100 (H) x 55 (L) cm, where the wooden box is placed.
– 1 pair of headphones.
– 1 stool with c. 60 (H) cm.
– Medium brightness.