Mechanical Audiovisual Installation on Patrícia J. Reis — Media & Installation Artist

The Cosmic Box

Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In their site-specific video installation titled The Cosmic Box, artists Patrícia J. Reis and Fernando Mesquita craft a thought-provoking satire that reflects on the human condition, blending dark humor with poignant social critique. Part of the group exhibition Tombola, where the theme and media for each artwork are determined by chance, Reis and Mesquita received the theme “Hope” and the media “Staging.” Their response is a clever subversion of the very notion of hope, offering instead a narrative steeped in pessimism and critique of human existence.

Sensorial Screen #3

Sun, 28 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The sculpture Sensorial Screen #3 is an interactive installation that allows the body to view itself as a place where complex visual information. Is perceived as a sensation that can also be felt on the skin level. The vibration (60 vibration motors) reacts to the motion of the flag represented in the video. Weather-related pain or meteoropathy is the effect of weather on the human organism. Air pressure fluctuations, foehn winds, heat waves, changing humidity and thunderstorms might have an effect on general health, mood and performance levels of individuals.In particular, people who are weakened by chronic diseases, such as rheumatism or asthma are more sensitive to the weather.

[B.M.I.] BELIEVER. MACHINE. INTERFACE

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

We learned to believe in machines! We enjoy believing in machines!

The BMI project investigates fictional technomancy by questioning the boundaries between science, religion and magic from the point of view of the user and/or the believer.

Cutting the body

Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

A small video projector is displaying a video on a wall. A small film cutter (guillotine) is placed in between the projector and the projection. The guillotine is assembled with an automatic mechanism (composed by an Arduino and a small stepper motor) programed to move its handle upwards and downwards. The movement is therefore synchronized with the narrative in the video, that shows a long shot of a performer (the artist), stepping in a room, facing the camera, and placing one part of her body (head, arms or legs) on a small white bench. When the guillotine handle moves downwards, obscuring the projection, the performer is placing one part of her body on the bench. When the guillotine handle moves upwards, the projection is revealed again, showing the performer without the part of the body previously placed on the bench. The video and the mechanism continues until all parts of the body are cut off. The installation is always in loop.

Penetrating the black box

Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The installation proposes the photographic apparatus as a “black box” and as a metaphor to reflect upon the relation between the private and public space of the image. Inspired by Vilém Flusser’s writings on photography, the artist employs his concepts of faith and magic, event and happening, towards the “coded cameras”, questioning the existence of the political space of the digital image. In the installation Penetrating the black box, Reis creates a “scene” consisting of a mechanical apparatus that is programmed in order to automatically trigger two photo digital cameras (at different moments) inside a black box. The output image from the cameras is transmitted in real-time onto two monitors.