PEDRA DURA | CONTACT ZONE – Video Performances by Tales Frey

8 November | 10:00-18:00

Location: Museu de Lagos - Núcleo Dr. José Formosinho Organised by: CAMA a.c. with the support of CM Lagos and DGArtes Free entry

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In this section of the Museu de Lagos, the Pedra Dura festival presents the “Contact Zone” room, featuring three video performances by Tales Frey. The videos can be viewed freely throughout the day during museum opening hours.

Enter the Samba Enter the Samba (2013) is a video performance that draws from a childhood memory to address the gesture of repression and physical punishment. “Boy, you’re going to enter the samba!” was the phrase Tales Frey heard from his parents when, after some mischief, he was threatened with “spankings” as punishment. In this video, that memory is shifted to a situation of sexual connotation and interspersed with a certain humour, contrasting with the violence of the act itself. The original audio of the performance, later treated to acquire a drier and harsher sound, brings the sound of the blows closer to that produced by gunfire, accentuating the violent dimension of the action.

Being Apart - Step by Step The design of an eccentric object – a single pair of shoes with space for four feet – forces two bodies to position themselves facing each other and, as they move, their steps resemble a dance, and the resulting sounds can be understood as noise music.

Il Faut Souffrir pour Être Belle On the tips of two large nails, Tales Frey supports his heels and balances on these objects for a brief moment. Then, as he cannot resist, he breaks the upright posture and, once again, balances on the objects. He repeats this action numerous times until his body is exhausted. In this creation, there is a reference to the use of high heels and, with that, to the relationship between fashion and the ideal of beauty with pain. Metaphorically, beyond the various layers of meaning that the work brings, this creation comments on the illusory idea of ascension so prevalent in our routines subjected to the reality of contemporary consumer society, where arduous sacrifice hardly guarantees reaching the top and staying there.