Francisco Valença Vaz
Valença Vaz's work focuses on the intersections between the human body and its dematerialization. Through an interdisciplinary methodology that explores narrative structures, the work investigates posthuman conditions within the realm of commercial aesthetics and migratory objects. In contrast to the banality of everyday life, these objects become relics that demand belief and hope. Within this landscape of desperation, the work asks what longings of modernity remain in a world that smells only of gasoline and freshly unboxed iPhones.
“Imagine if we cultivate the value and empower the meaning of human rights through sensory perception and emotional connection, leading to a reliance on these rights.”
Practice gives the words their meaning, as Richard Shusterman cited Ludwig Wittgenstein, and such practice involves agreement ...in form of life. There is no better way to get the sense than from experiencing it in practice. Acquiring knowledge through practical experience and bodily perception, rather than just pure thinking, leads to a practice-based understanding.
Imagine if we cultivate the value and empower the meaning of human rights through sensory perception and emotional connection, leading to a reliance on these rights. Art, as a practice that engages the senses and elicits emotions, could be the means to achieve this. Emotions play a crucial role in orienting us towards objects and others. Thus, perceiving the law and human rights through the prism of art can not only aid in exercising our rights but also cultivate a deeper and more personal connection with them, resulting in a greater understanding of ourselves and others. Furthermore, participatory artistic practices foster a growing sense of solidarity, defined by Roberto Esposito as the result of increasing emotional or traditional attachment. This sense of solidarity and the ability to create new senses through collective imagination are key elements of art’s social value, which is highly relevant for my artistic research and practice.
