Lourenço Soares

Sara’s Dream Linnaeus’ Nightmare

installation with sound: drawings, cell phone and megaphone; 2019

"The first step in wisdom is to know the things themselves; this notion consists in having a true idea of the objects; objects are distinguished and known by classifying them methodically and giving them appropriate names. Therefore, classification and name-giving will be the foundation of our science." (Linnaeus: Systema Naturae)

This work focuses on the different forms of visualization and organization of the natural world — taxonomies, statistics, models, tables, drawings, etc. — and on how these representations produce knowledge. In working in the way of deconstruction, inhabiting the structures of knowledge from inside, the work subverts their mechanism and questions the epistemological structure of natural history.

We hear a fictional voice message from Sara (Linnaeus‘ wife) to Linnaeus (Sara‘s husband). She describes her day. Or a dream she had. On the wall, the drawings show Linnaeus‘ hallucination: empty taxonomic systems or diagrams exploding within their own logic.

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