omnia mutandor, nihil interit

Ovid (43 BC- 17 AD), Metamorphoses, book XV, line 165

Could we live without others? Are we alone if we are locked at home in the middle of a city, with other people locked just like us in the house next to ours? What if the other people is locked, but miles away from us? Are we still connected? Are we still part of the same thing?

Is love about contact? Could we live without contact? Can we show love from a distance?
This is an installation done in my own house during the covid-19 lockdown. Photo by Ana Matos.

What would we like to see us doing in the face of a new situation? What does a new world look like? Are we ready to adapt to whatever comes?
This image is a random pick from over 700 versions generated by a custom typography-altering algorithm.

Were we made to be together? Does society work if we don’t fit with one another? What happens when a social being is left to survive alone?
This image is a handmade linocut print.

life is a continuum… enjoy it!

life is always a question to be answered…

walking together is better!

some times optimist… some times pessimist…

Economy and politics, ethics and culture.
Changes are wide and human coexistence needs to be rethought.
It is necessary to give up the affirmation of your own personality and get along in the world with a view based on the principle of similarity.

A new Humanism, in which singularity and diversity get a perfect balance.
A new Humanism, in which relationships and dialogue stand for availability in building together.
A new Humanism, in which everyone’s life is lived together with other people’s lives.

The Circle, the Square and the Triangle coexist in harmony, with their own personality and get expressiveness thanks to their own close union.

coexist
/ˌkəʊɪɡˈzɪst/
verb
exist at the same time or in the same place.
“dwarf mammoths may have survived in north-east Siberia to coexist with the Egyptian pharaohs”
(of nations or peoples) exist in harmony despite different ideologies or interests.
“the task of diplomacy was to help different states to coexist”

In recent days and over the last years, the reinforcement of fences and borders contradicted the free and united idea of a borderless Europe. The progressive work of decades is questioned more than ever. The new nationalism bears a medieval castle impenetrable to outsiders who seem to threaten the survival of those within.

But all this national pride roots from nothing: If you overlap all borders of Europe from the last centuries it shows that nationalism, egoism and protectionism has no ground. The free spirit of Europe that finally lead to overcome those borders should be the common ground for the future. Coexisting was and is always one key element of a European success.

we are like connected islands in the universe

Segregation is an ever-present given. It has been for the last decades, years, months. But especially: now. We stopped sharing workspaces, streets, hugs, homes. We share less and less of the same qualities of life. Of options. Of possibilities. But there is something we will always share. We share air.

[original motion file available]

People’s coexistence creates many problems in all areas of life that are completely unnecessary and irrational. Society is torn apart and the gap between the parties is widening. Welcome to 2020.

Shapes that symbolise people, nature and our environment coexisting as one, revealing the interconnected bond between us and the Universe.

A plea to coexist. Aiming to manifest the necessity of coexisting by lifting up each others voices. As colors and ideologies coincide, nations follow suit, despite varying principles. With a combination of vulnerability and power “can we?” is the question we need to ask ourselves.