31. Utopia

Alexandre A R Costa (Portugal)

Installation

UTOPIA sits on the rooftop of the derelict former ice rink.  Once a pleasure palace, Costa's flickering installation appears to question the original purpose of the building.

The piece is inspired by Thomas More's work of fiction, written in 1516, in which he talks about the idea of the 'island' as both liberating and isolating depending on your viewpoint. UTOPIA creates a similar paradox depending on how you view the work as it rolls through a shifting sequence. With a constantly changing perspective, the word UTOPIA is only ever fully lit when the sequence aligns.  Will you catch it?

About the artist

The artist and curator Alexandre A. R. Costa was born in 1973 in Braga, but lives in Porto, Portugal. He works across a variety of media from illustrations and photography to video and performance. He has co-founded a number of artistic spaces in Porto, Portugal where he has also curated the activity at these spaces. His work is often concerned with a contemporary sense of disorder and transformation, disrupting the idea of communication systems, regularity, and the power of certainty.

To find out more, visit alexandrearcosta.com/.