Threshold

Threshold (The point of transition between states: from physical to digital, from presence to absence, from silence to exposure. A space where something ends, and something else begins. Where destruction becomes construction, and observation becomes participation.)

Detritus: stopping time to make us see

Vhils’ explosions on the walls of abandoned buildings bring an intense physical action — controlled detonation — aimed at revealing the city’s deepest layers. First used in 2011 in the video work M.I.R.I.A.M., created in collaboration with Orelha Negra (and still visible on the walls of Fábrica Braço de Prata), the acts of destruction were captured with cameras that record 2,000 frames per second. The images reveal the apocalyptic, ephemeral, and dramatic moment of the explosion as a metaphor for the social and economic crisis triggered by the 2008 financial collapse.

This and other subsequent series speak of how, in times of turbulence, the veneer of civilisation we take for granted can easily explode and bring to the surface expressions of intolerance, extremism, and violence that were lying dormant beneath. It also refers to the brutal changes sweeping through contemporary society, and yet, we remain drowsy, almost immune. It is a visual call to what we must see, awaken to, and confront.

The explosion videos presented in this section are linked to NFTs - digital contracts that allow ownership of digital assets. These immaterial fragments, charged with meaning, can be acquired by the public while still preserving the charged instant of collapse, offering a reflection on what remains when everything falls apart.

Layers: Technology for participation
Vhils’ work has always been connected to public discourse. And if, today, these collective debates also take place in the digital world, the natural path for Vhils – a passionate explorer of technologies – would be for his body of work to migrate there as well. “Layers” is the name of the digital collection that allowed the artist to reach new audiences around the world with a series of digital artworks that invite participation.

In this body of works, Vhils incorporated generative art into his practice - a type of art in which the artist defines certain rules, and the data system generates infinite combinations from them. Using photographs of his characteristic torn billboards, Vhils built an algorithmic system that creates works with the same aesthetic as his posters (naturally, in collaboration with other digital specialists, such as the DRP platform).

Any individual, from their own device, can generate a unique and unpredictable artwork by Vhils, choosing to reveal or keep hidden one, two or three billboard layers. The result takes shape as the collector engages with the project, being able to make increasingly personalised decisions about their piece. At the end of the process, the collector decides whether their work will remain solely in digital format as an NFT – a virtual contract that links Vhils’ work permanently to its new collector – or whether it will be printed as a physical artwork.