Known for his extensive work in painting, Bruno Pacheco also produces occasional one-off video pieces. These are usually very minimalistic proposals in terms of media and aesthetic choice, unlike his painting, which is profuse, strident and expressive in its motifs, colours and figures. Present in both media are metaphorical allusion, ironic approaches and the question of emptiness and absurdity.

 

In this work, our attention is drawn to the foot of a small hill, arid and red against the blue sky and scattered clouds. On this horizon, we suddenly see someone appear – a miniscule being who begins to descend towards the valley, a shadow that disappears for a few brief moments but then resurfaces once more along this cut line. We realise very early on that he has his hands behind his head in a gesture of surrender.

 

The title suggests surrender to Hamish… Fulton, the English walking artist, who has become emblematic for his practice of long walks, during which he photographs and notes reflections and experiences. The walk in this video is, however, apparently short, only lasting a few minutes. There is nevertheless an indication that it continues beyond our field of vision, since the protagonist (played by the artist himself) passes in front of the camera without stopping and continues – we do not know how long for, or how far he goes.

 

This is a silent walk (also in the sense that there are no hints at words or reflections), in which the image, rather than being taken by the walker, is captured by an outside witness who receives him as a hostage: a human hostage, a hostage of image, art and his own fiction. The surrender is literal in the first phase, staged and performed; metaphorical in the second phase, signifying the reference to another artist; and ironic in the third phase, demystifying, trivialising or simply incorporating it with disconcerting simplicity.

 

 

Leonor Nazaré

May 2013