Untitled (from Droguinhas)
In the mid-1960s, Schendel produced a series of three-dimensional works made of knotted rice paper she had intertwined by hand. She thought of them as ephemeral sculptures—not meant to last—and called them Droguinhas (literally “little drugs”), a Brazilian slang expression that means “Nothing” or indicates something worthless. This formless network of twisted cords evokes the act of weaving and can be placed horizontally or vertically. A trained philosopher and poet, Schendel used her art to address existential questions and to subvert the traditional hierarchies between artistic mediums.
(Around the mid-1960s, Schendel produced a series of three-dimensional works that she thought of as ephemeral sculptures. She called them Droguinha, or "little drug," a slang expression that signifies "nothing" or "something worthless." Like this one, they are composed of knotted rice paper that Schendel intertwined by hand. The formless network of twisted cords evokes the act of weaving and can be placed horizontally or vertically. Neutralizing the tension between figure and support, material and meaning, Droguinha represents a radical artistic example of void or absence materialized as a metaphysical fullness.)
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