Objectology is a project that tells a story of the abandoned and never retrieved objects (consciously or unconsciously) of the ex-cork workers of the Robinson factory, Portalegre, Portugal.

Robinson closed doors in the 90’s. Although the administration absence, the workers continued their routine through almost a decade, without payment. Faith in their work, their business, they kept Robinson Factory producing. Visiting the factory, I noticed that the lockers still preserve the clothes, the ATM receipts and photographs of the worker’s children. The offices still contain the snack boxes and holiday postcards sent by colleagues. Emigration papers next to pornography next to children’s pictures.

By decontextualizing these scenarios, Objectology aims to construct an allegorical evocative narrative and elevate the meaning of what has remained, namely the private and the intimate. This is the extension of my peripheral vision of the factory and, subtly, i try to unveil the human layer. Objectology lends credibility to banal objects and offers the viewer the chance to construct the story behind each one. The impulse to categorize, index, control and understand information is something that has been influencing my work. Is the human instinct to seek order in the chaos that surrounds us? With Objectology I want to create almost a catalog, a reunion of all those evidence of human trace that were forgotten. Almost agglomerate something that I couldn’t curate or edit like the prevailing seems to affirm.

[Objectology was produced during an artist-in-residency in Portalegre (PT) under direction of Paulo Catrica.]