FONTE (2024)

 

Part of SLA International Festival

Presented Sept 2024 in Galerie Zoom (Sète, France)

Presented Oct 2024 in Convento dos Capuchos (Lisbon, Portugal)

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​​Research on Prosthetic Ecologies​

 

Fonte is an utilitarian sculptural fountain composed of six modular wax vessels designed to filter and nourish water through material erosion. Each module is lined with an agar-based biomaterial that functions as an internal skin, allowing water to circulate while gradually dissolving the wax structure. As the sculpture erodes, its material decomposition contributes to the purification and enrichment of the water it carries, treating decay as an ecological function rather than a failure of form. Positioned between infrastructure and body, the work frames water purification as a situated, material process enacted through use.​

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Designed to drift within natural water streams, the fountain was originally conceived as a six-module system capable of operating collectively or being separated into individual units. This modular logic later evolved into fully wearable components, allowing the fountain to be activated through bodily movement.  See wereable iteration 1⁄6 Fonte.

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During the festival, the artist was invited to undertake a residency through which Objects à Jeter à la Mer was developed. This parallel project explored optimal biomaterial compositions that would later inform the internal coating of Fonte.

 

The project forms part of a broader research into prosthetic ecologies and itinerant devices for ecological maintenance, where material transformation operates as an active ecological process rather than a representational gesture. Here, sculptural systems act as temporary ecological extensions rather than fixed objects.​​​​

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