Empty, Lit

In a vast, empty, and dimly lit abandoned space, a bird's-eye view captures the haunting atmosphere of an art exhibition. In the center stands a slightly damaged plaster sculpture, reminiscent of a classic wooden living room bookcase, its metal framework partially exposed. A 16mm film projector casts a black and white video onto its surface, depicting a half-naked Portuguese girl wearing an urban hat, her image mapped across the plaster and metal textures. To the right, a paper folding screen with a wooden frame recalls a Japanese Nanban screen, semi-open and plain, serving as a canvas for a vivid color video projection of a biblical character clad in red robes, donning sunglasses with a serene blue sky behind him. On the left, a small wooden puppet theater adorned with Alentejo textiles houses the slumbering "Bonecos de Santo Aleixo" puppets, a quaint contrast to the larger sculptures around it. The vastness of the space dwarfs these sculptures, adding to the eerie ambience, with faint natural light filtering through small ceiling windows, mingling with the glow of the video projectors.