Studio Socialis examines the social representations of the artist’s studio and interrogates the physical and operative boundaries that separate or, on the contrary, connect art with other forms of creative and professional activities. Through a methodology of field research that involved conducting a series of interviews with various professionals in their working environments, do Carmo assembles multiple viewpoints from individuals outside the art world, constructing a collective portrayal of the artist’s studio. The spatial reference to the studio becomes a device that triggers ideas about the nature of the artist’s work in a broader sense and about his/her contribution to society. Do Carmo seeks to detect the opportunities of collaborating with her interviewees by bringing up hypothetical projects with them. In this case, would the interviewees become co-creators of the work? If so, what are the artistic and ethical consequences? And is ‘the artist´s studio’ a nomadic concept that can be activated in any space appropriated by the artist, whether it is the kitchen of a restaurant, a scientific laboratory or a psychiatrist’s office?
These encounters are transformed into two video works, each with their corresponding drawing series: in Document #1 the production spaces of the interviewed persons are presented (laboratory, office, garage et. al.) with the interviewees discussing their ideal artist studio in the audio track (and from which the present donated drawing is derived); in Document #2, the interviewees are themselves shown discussing a possible collaboration with the artist.
Verbatim excerpts selected from the video interviews are printed at the bottom of the paper in the drawings, becoming a parallel to the video works. Figures of heads emerge from the blank field of the paper above the texts, with their eyes at times mirroring the relations between artist/interviewee/studio described in the printed text below, while at other times, remaining empty, a blank space of potential to be filled by the viewer.
