Jonas Pequeno
Installation view of Jonas Pequeno: /ˈfəʊli/ at Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London, 23 September—18 December, 2020. Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery © Jonas Pequeno, 2020
Jonas Pequeno’s ‘/ˈfəʊli/’ at Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London orchestrates a mediation of the simulated and the real through an experiential installation of audiovisual works.
Foley, Jonas Pequeno, 2020 Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery © Jonas Pequeno, 2020
Foley, Jonas Pequeno, 2020 Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery © Jonas Pequeno, 2020
‘/ˈfəʊli/’, the phonetic transcription of “foley” refers to the post production technique whereby sound artists perform with props to embellish the audio of a film. These camouflaged effects are emitted by manipulating objects disparate to their tangible counterparts. Common tricks include clapping coconut shells for horse’s hooves, crushing lettuce for bones breaking and squeezing cornstarch for crunching footsteps. These imitations appear more authentic than the actual sound, making up the patchwork reality reflected throughout the exhibition. Pequeno conjures an ocean within the walls of the gallery, leading the audience on a treasure trail that builds up layers of perception, recreating the birds in the sky, the crashing of waves and the surface of water. The first encounter is a CGI rendered seascape, Ocean Scene Composite (2020). Encircled by speakers emitting the sound of a rushing wave, the visitor traces electrical wires to realise that this soundscape is emanating from the aggregation of balloons, Foley (2020). Minimal and monochromatic, the curation of the show possesses an objectivity that appeals to reason yet retains the playfulness of its namesake, as hands become birds in the print and the act of appearing (2020). The imagery, sound and video each invert the function of Foley, acknowledging the absurd mechanisms which usually go unseen.
Foley [detail] Jonas Peqeno, 2020 Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery © Jonas Pequeno, 2020
the act of appearing, Jonas Pequeno, 2020 Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery © Jonas Pequeno, 2020
A recent Fine Art graduate from Central Saint Martins, Pequeno’s sound practice evolved over the final two years of his degree where he began incorporating the spontaneity of live entertainment into sonic works. He traces his experimentation with music to enquiries in ontology, phenomenology and semiotics. The artist transforms conceptual groundwork into corporeal constructions, such as in Foley (2020), a cluster of translucent balloons that dangle from the ceiling, exposing their microphone innards. Their real-time transmissions are fed via a soundboard, altered by echo and reverb, and amplified into turbulent crashes. Swayed by a nearby fan, the vibrations of the spheres vary due to air, light and temperature, a whirling soundscape that ebbs and flows. The oceanic scene at the centre of the works arose through Pequeno’s material explorations with inflated latex in his London studio, describing his discovery of their potential for aquatic harmony as “a gift”. Stating that “the performance in foley sound production is lost in the film”, Pequeno instead makes visible the hidden stages of post-production, drawing attention to the microphones, the mixing desk and the wires. As though welcoming the spectator into the magic circle, Pequeno devises a mechanical routine that takes on a life of its own. Embodying ephemerality, the balloons are refilled with air weekly, lest they completely collapse. Despite precise engineering of the contents on display, the individual’s contact with these differ with the conditions. Some visitors have been privy to a silent work, as the balloons haven’t hit against each other to cause a sound. Others have sensed an invitation to incite the movement of the work to alter the audio. Regardless of the result, a childlike curiosity is triggered within the viewer, as they perceive their tangible impact on this computerized spectacle.
Foley, Jonas Pequeno, 2020 Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery © Jonas Pequeno, 2020
Deploying a functional aesthetic, the artist presents a belief that personal narrative in art making can be problematic. While the works seem objective on the surface, his own subjectivity is disguised within his deployment of archetypal images of nature, which is in part informed by his childhood memories on the coast of Brazil. Ocean Scene Composite (2020) depicts a digital seascape which flickers in and out of definition, revealing the machinations of its rendering programme. Materialised as hyper real, the agency of the artist is present in these intermittent glitches, evoking the slippages between manmade and natural realms. Expressing a digitised urgency, Pequeno’s pithy approach to simulation parallels transparency in production, from the crystal-clear balloons to the visibility of electrical cords. Reducing the turbulence of the ocean to a three minute loop, the artist expresses reverence for its “great monolithic symbolism”, the simplification within the moving image proves that simulacra pales in comparison to the original. The work’s recurrence and rhythm alludes to a musicality within it. Led by the sounds generated by Foley, the artist’s portrayal of a stormy sea invokes an atmosphere that is both meditative in movement and threatening in tempestuousness. Poignantly, he initially intended the work to be accessed in VR, but due to the restrictions of physical contact during the pandemic, he opted for a screen. The view is bound by the perimeter of the display, creating the impression of a window that leads to a virtual realm beyond. Reflecting the estrangement of 2020, where many are constrained to a life lived behind devices, Pequeno’s examination of media and its fabrications pertinently dissects our blended reality.
Ocean Scene Composite, Jonas Pequeno, 2020 Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery © Jonas Pequeno, 2020
Photographic print, and the act of appearing (2020), captures Pequeno’s own gloved hands twisted into the form of a bird in flight. While the title ironically hints at the artist’s own evasiveness within the work, his arms continue to be obscured by a green screen surface. Appearing to be floating, the tools of post-production are both exposed and concealed by this illusion. Pequeno has never before performed in his works, but his decision to debut his own flesh places corporeality in focus. The print extends his witty repartee with its inclusion of gloves, which reference their use in foley to mimic the sound of flapping wings. Affirming that “the body is forgotten when thinking about digital production”, this work emphasises human influence on simulated realms. Contrasting with curated digital platforms, the presence of his hands highlights an animalistic spill that is missing in the virtual landscape, and whose construction erases the “ooze, smells and sweat of the human”. Resembling sign language and chironomy, the gesture harks back to Pequeno’s inquiries into semiotics, discussions around how meaning is communicated. Stating that “language is reductive to the experience”, the artist is interested in how visual shorthands fail to portray the entirety of emotional phenomena. His work deploys symbols from an archetypal scene to underline their ability to take on another cultural significance, mutating away from their original likeness. Endlessly flitting in pursuit of truthful representation, the show depicts a constantly escaping reality that defies replication.
Foley [detail], Jonas Pequeno, 2020 Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery © Jonas Pequeno, 2020
Foley [detail], Jonas Pequeno, 2020 Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery © Jonas Pequeno, 2020
Jonas Pequeno’s ‘/ˈfəʊli/’ offers an absurdist take on worldbuilding, invoking apparitions grounded in the tension between the human and the mechanical. The artist questions what is assumed to be actual, spotlighting reproduction as representation, inferring from semiotics the tendency of symbolic images to replace material objects. In a manner similar to the concluding sequence of “The Wizard of Oz”, the curtain is pulled away from the mighty mirage, to divulge the humble human operating the industrial knobs. Alluding to the magical masked within the minimal, Pequeno asserts universality in our experiences, our awareness of hybrid realities mass-engineered by humanity. Queerying how a replica can be “more real than the real thing itself”, the artist encourages audiences to draw their own conclusions from the ephemeral works on display. Though each participant’s visit is individual in content,the context is more universal than ever. With restrictions on travel, and rising reliance on technology, this distant seascape epitomizes a realm that is at once recognisable, yet unreachable. Jonas Pequono’s allegorical spectacle both embodies the somatic deficiency of authentic phenomena, and creates a space for spontaneous moments.
Jonas Pequeno’s ‘/ˈfəʊli/’ at Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London runs until 18th December.
JONAS PEQUENO
words VANESSA MURRELL
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