INDEPENDENT HEART

Red Independent Heart presents an enormous “heart of Viana,” an iconic piece of Portuguese filigree, entirely comprised of red plastic cutlery. Suspended from an axe, the work makes a circular rotation movement evoking the cycle of life and the eternal return, accompanied by the sound of three meaningful fado songs, Estranha Forma de Vida [Strange Way of Life], Gaivota [Seagull], and Maldição [Curse], performed by Amália Rodrigues, diva of Portuguese music in the second half of the 20th century. The title of the work is taken precisely from a verse of the first of these fados, written by Alfredo Duarte (Marceneiro) and Amália Rodrigues, whose lyrics invoke the conflict between emotion and reason. By using a large amount of plastic cutlery, this artwork, inspired by a precious piece of filigree, reaches the abstraction of its original forms, so that the initial referents are transfigured by the suggested new social and artistic systems, thus exposing the artificiality of the boundaries between luxury and banality, popular culture and high culture. Independent Heart presents itself as a powerful and emotive installation of sound and movement; a diptych dedicated to wealth, love, and death, recurring themes in the lyrics of fado.