The artist always uses the same title in his solo shows and his artworks are all untitled, in- verting the concept of the exhibition as a final stage – the visible phase – of the ar- tistic process. Arruda’s work doesn’t end in itself or reach conclusions; his uninhabited landscapes seem to apprehend time. His work doesn’t immobilise time as a frozen frame, but reshapes its duration.

‘Deserto-Modelo’ at Pivô combines Arru- da’s paintings and his recent research with projectors and 35mm slides. The architec- tural singularities of the exhibition rooms led the artist to engage directly with the space, expanding the experience and pre- cision of his paintings by creating a fully controlled environment.

Arruda expanded and repositioned the room walls, carefully planning a route for the viewers, who experiment with light and colour when walking through the three rooms occupied by the artist. Ev- ery source of natural light was sealed off and the lighting was meticulously planned in collaboration with artist Alessandra Domingues. The basic premise of Arru- da’s work – the horizon, the negotiation between heaven and sea, and tone variations between dawn and dusk in different weather conditions – is experienced with one’s entire body. Looking at the artworks we are completely engaged with the untroubled landscapes imagined by the artist.

When entering the space we see two symmetric fields in two shades of grey. One is outlined by the slide projector’s light and the other is directly painted onto the wall. When the ambient light is stable, the distinction between both tones is clear; how- ever, when the main light is intensified, one field fades and the other is highlighted, and when the light is less intense, the opposite happens. The perception of this binary composition is perhaps the essence of Arruda’s research. Here the dialogue between colour-light and colour-pigment is clearly seen, the landscape’s subtlety is more indeci- sive light than defined colour.

When entering the darkest area, we see another recent project, in which the artist sug- gests the passage of four days and four nights by painting directly onto 35mm slides. Different tones and densities affect the room according to the rotation of the slides, which are synchronised and run on a loop. As night approaches the whole room de- scends into darkness, with the light gradually returning with dawn. The projection’s rhythm and the pulsing tempo of the slides’ tone variations guide the exhibition’s route, which – through the relationship of the artworks with the projection and paintings – promotes a different experience of time. In Arruda’s pieces time is not quantitative and linear, but interior and non-measurable, similar to experience and memory.

By following the proposed route, the viewer finds natural light again in a room in which five recent small paintings are displayed. Seen after the projections, the painted land- scapes are a fresh breath. The suspended time in Arruda’s horizons have a Bergsonian duration. For the French philosopher there is an ontological order that operates within the idea that in duration/time the same sensation is never repeated. Therefore, those who are guided by chronological time – the time of clocks and calendars – and follow a movement ruled by the everyday are urged to question where they have ended. By entering the exhibition room, the spatial-temporal order is broken. It is exactly in this false step taken by the conscious viewer that the artist’s work is most present.

‘Deserto-Modelo’ showcased at Pivô is different from previous editions as it proposes a synesthetic experience of Arruda’s artworks. Our gaze becomes deeply immersed in the artist’s world so we can ultimately take a step back and notice once again the sym- metric rectangles of the painted canvas in the last room. When leaving the exhibition we return to chronological time but no longer on the same axis.

April, 2015