“Solar” is a Musa paradisiaca installation, conceived by Miguel Ferrão, Eduardo Guerra and Claudia Pestana, to experience “Solar Boat” (2021) in the Appleton – [BOX].

“Solar Boat” is a sound work made from recordings of private conversations altered through sound effects.

“Solar” combines several elements – sound, light, warmth, space, time, image and their absence. Light, dominantly present, implants the act of listening on the whole body: a limbo that operates a submission, a deceleration and suspension of movement that enables the sound to install itself in the attention of the listener.

In this environment, “Solar Boat” is transformed into “Solar”: a place where, through sensing and being present, unknown landscapes can be inhabited as intimate and familiar.

Balaclava Noir invited Musa paradisiaca to present “Solar” at Appleton – [BOX] in the context of their ongoing partnership with Appleton Associação Cultural.

Musa paradisiaca
Musa paradisiaca, formed in 2010, is an artist duo composed by Eduardo Guerra (Lisbon, 1986) and Miguel Ferrão (Lisbon, 1986). By adopting the taxonomic name created by botanist Carl Linnaeus for a hybrid species of banana and parodying the epistemological contexts of attempts to identify and catalog the world, Musa paradisiaca works to conjure conflicting values, attitudes and norms.

Through dialogic working processes and within interstitial spaces of ‘commonality’, Musa paradisiaca establishes forms of communication beyond a predetermined lexicon akin to a less mediated contact with the world. This practice searches for ambiguous world-views that the duo manifests through haptic and embracing relational formats into installation, film, sound, and sculpture works.

A selection of Musa paradisiaca solo-exhibitions includes: “The I of the Beeholder”, Fundação Carmona e Costa, Lisbon (2020); “Curveball Memory”’, Galeria Municipal do Porto, Porto (2018); “Masters of Velocity”, Dan Gunn Gallery, Berlin (2016); “Alma-bluco”, CRAC Alsace, Altkirch (2015); “Audição das máquinas”, Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon (2014); “Audição das flores”, 3+1 Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon (2014). They have also participated in numerous group shows, among which: “Affaires étrangères”, Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers, Paris (2022); “Une Communauté imaginée”, Frac des Pays de la Loire, Nantes (2022); “Artist’s Film International”, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2019) and MAAT – Museu de Arte, Arquitectura e Tecnologia, Lisbon (2018); “The intimate knowledge of things”, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2017); “Conversas”, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto (2016); “Le lynx ne connaît pas de frontières”, Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard, Paris (2015); and “Chantiers D’Europe”, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2013).

Claudia Pestana
Claudia Pestana co-curated the 11th Seoul Mediacity Biennale (2021) and curated, in dialogue with João Vasco Paiva, “Cut Down the Middle” (2021) at Galeria Avenida da Índia, Lisbon. Pestana curated the exhibition “What should I do to live in your life?” (2012) and “Pilot Micro Multiplex Mall” (2012) both at Sharjah Art Foundation, in the United Arab Emirates; and was one of the co-curators of “City Within the City” (2011), presented at Art Sonje Center (Seoul) and at Gertrude Contemporary (Melbourne).

Pestana co-edited “Musa paradisiaca: Views on Misunderstanding” (2018) and contributed to several publications, including “The Parallax Hanok: A Café/Bar at the Art Sonje Center in Seoul” (2016) by Jun Yang; “The Part In The Story Where We Lost Count Of The Days” (2013) by Heman Chong; and “Paintings against Painting” (2013) by Hugo Canoilas.

Balaclava Noir
Balaclava Noir was established in response to a lack of audiovisual services companies specifically tailored to the needs of the art field, artists and their works. To cater to such needs, solutions require more than conceptual and practical competence and knowledge, they should take into account artistic sensibilities and rigor.

Built on the extensive expertise of a team with experience of working with Bazar do Vídeo and OPTEC (Sociedade Óptica Técnica), Balaclava Noir is led by an artistic director with qualifications in the fields of technology and arts. A dynamic team, they are sensitive to artists’ needs and committed to executing the unique technical specifications an installation or artwork requires.

Balaclava Noir has expanded their services beyond offering consulting and technical support. They are now available to develop bespoke projects from inception to delivery, working closely with artists to address multidisciplinary and multifaceted details throughout each phase of the project, including space design and lighting.