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PROJECT INDEX
Managed by a group of coordinators, the Index project functions
as a vehicle that enjoys considerable directional elasticity, in spite
of the apparent immobility and inflexibility of each of the proposed
indices, since its conception presupposes a kinetic desire for confrontation
and a relative specular androgyny. In other words, it was conceived
as a mutant that takes that form in order to eliminate the subject -
thus transformed into an ephemeral vehicle for feeling and thinking
the world - and simultaneously be able to develop its critical mobility.
The external inflexibility of the structure that appears to serve as
a basis for each of the interventions also acts as an internal paradox
of the project: classification combined with the unclassifiable.
This consciously utopian desire to map reality from a set of terms that
is virtually infinite ultimately lends the project a substantial advantage:
the assertion of the obvious impossibility of an all-encompassing representation
of the world and, therefore, the internal negation of a finality.
After the first two projects (Index 1 - Control; Index 2 - Economy),
Index 3 - Territory now appears, prolonging this apparent futility.
INDEX 3
Building on three interlinked concepts - Territory, Identity, Exile
-, Index 3 arose from discussion focused on the idea of territory
as social design and on the notion of the frontier as a fiction of power.
A particular space is only recognisable as a territory if it is submitted
to a delimitation that is applied always as an instrument of dominion
and control.
The territories created imply inclusions and exclusions, being inside
or outside, hence the construction of identity and the difficult condition
of exile. The text "Of Other Spaces", by Michel Foucault,
having served as a fundamental element of the work process, presents
a concept which we believe to be central to this Index: Heterotopia.
The idea that our age is, above all, the age of space and that this
space itself is essentially heterogeneous, ultimately opens up the field
of possibilities that we propose here.
Criteria of conceptual heterogeneity will therefore be the basis on
which to project the mapping (in the sense of surveying and cataloguing)
of the entries that are perhaps paradoxically self-devouring, but which
create a political body tireless in the attribution of critical expectations
and firm rejection of artificial universalities from a single and global
viewpoint. A mapping requires detailed research of the different elements
involved, using methods that allow the survey to be the most comprehensive
possible. A micro-procedure leads necessarily to an expanded analytics,
in other words, to a more profound but not unidirectional approach.
This multidirectionality will allow new sensitive points to be introduced
into the methodological analysis and to contribute towards a change
in direction and attitude in the face of the consensual argument. By
naming new entries, these will affect the agreement that has been formed,
through conceptual dissonancies that reveal the positive value of disagreement
as a factor inherent to the opening up of theoretical possibilities
of naming new territories for analysis and consequently new indices,
without losing contact with the genesis of the Index project and with
its fragmentary and heterodox character.
Public Presentation of the Project:
Index 3 will
be presented at Galeria João Graça, between 4 July and
12 of September 1998.
Publication
of the Catalogue:
For this project, we are requesting contributions to be included
in the exhibition catalogue, which will act as a work in progress; in
other words, it will evolve as the above-mentioned projects are incorporated.
The contributions can take any form, as long as the characteristics
of the publication are respected. The catalogue is expected to be 200
pages in A5 format, printed in black and white. It will consist of a
cardboard ring binder and punched sheets that can be inserted during
the exhibition period.
Index 3 On-Line:
The Index 3 site will be a fundamental component of the project.
It will serve as an on-line extension of the catalogue, reinforcing
the project's element of open participation.
Contributions:
This project will be presented to several guest contributors, who we
hope will submit actively. Contributions for the catalogue should be
delivered or sent during this first phase until the 30th June, preferably
on digital support (floppy disk, zip) or by e-mail. There will always
be room for later submissions, respecting the open concept of the catalogue
(that will be closed only on Spetember).Contributions designed exclusively
for the INDEX 3 site can also be submitted using the on-line
form.
Addresses:
Apartado 68 2766 S. João do Estoril
e-mail:[off]
FAX: [351 1 4689948/351 2 6101931/351 58 24117]
Contacts:
Fernando José Pereira [fjp@virose.pt]
Miguel Leal [ml@virose.pt]
Paulo Mendes [off]
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