Destinerrance

This publication bring us a methodical study of Edgar Martins’ artistic process, particularly the process of conception and exhibition of his project Siloquies and Soliloquies on Death, Life and Other Interludes, which was presented in an extended format (under the title Destinerrance) at the José de Guimarães International Arts Centre, Portugal, between January – May 2017, following more focused exhibitions at the MAAT, Open Eye Gallery, the Oxford Photography Festival (Barn Gallery, St. John’s College) and the Rencontres D’Arles 2017. Martins’ research took him to the archives of the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Portugal, the institution which holds legal jurisdiction over one’s body following death. The resulting visual reflection has resulted in an intense exhibition, on the power of the photographic and graphic image to retain the memory of the body, which bridges or is about to bridge the boundary which separates life and death, breathing and ossification. Thus, by using images from the INMLCF’s archive – photos, drawings, and charts, for example – as well as original photographs, Martins’ exhibition at the CIAJG and, by extension, this publication, constructs a unique moment in which we are called to consider photography’s role in the intelligibility of death.
This publication includes a 40 page interview between CIAJG artistic director Nuno Faria and Edgar Martins.