ROBERTA LIMA: GHOST PLANT

Project 8 – As part of the VIENNA ART WEEK
18 November 2020 – 16 April 2021
Stadtraum Wien

Pre-opening online with Roberta Lima (artist), Lauren Klocker (special guest), Erika Artaker (special guest), and Marcello Farabegoli (curator Friedrichshof collection) on 17 November, 2 pm: www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=426230028566277&ref=watch_permalink

Video of the exhibition by Lauren Klocker – boxquadr.at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiFAeUHh2-Q&feature=youtu.be

Inspired by incredible forms existing in nature and our surroundings, this work is a representation of systems of support and connectivity. In the forest, trees of different species have been thought to fight for light, but in reality they benefit from one another when sharing the same space. Their intertwined roots and a symbiotic relationship to fungi create an underground economy that exists beneath trees, a huge network, called “The Wood Wide Web”.
After years living in Vienna, Roberta Lima moved to Finland and experienced the conflict with isolation. Initially Lima struggled with feeling alone, but then she profited from introspection. She embraced restrictions and sought for alternative forms of communication. Working remotely has been Lima’s reality since then. The support of her collaborators in Vienna, Brazil and other places is crucial for making and presenting this work.
A sculpture made of cables is the main object of the multi-media installation at Stadtraum in Vienna. Spread throughout the space, the cables connect to various media works distributed in the rooms. Displaying images produced in Finland, the works explore artistic production using the concepts of “The Wood Wide Web”. In Ghost Plant, the body stands as energy source and the element that challenges and redefines structures.

Roberta Lima
born 1974, Manaus, Brazil
Lives and works in Helsinki and Vienna
After graduating with a degree in architecture in 2001, Lima moved to Vienna where in 2007 she earned a Master’s degree in Fine Arts and in 2013 her PhD in Philosophy. Thereafter she worked as lecturer and Assistant Professor for the Contextual Painting Class at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Lima focuses on her own body as a central theme of her work and uses various media, such as photographs, video and installations. Additionally she investigates space and appropriates aspects of different places and contexts – from subculture to science, from popular media to historical reference and feminist theory – for producing art and starting discussions on the role of artist and viewer.
She has exhibited and performed internationally at festivals such as Wiener Festwochen, Donaufestival, and Kyoto Experiment. In 2007 she was awarded the “H13 Prize for Performance”. In 2018 she was awarded Austrian Citizenship based on the merit of her accomplishments and contributions to the nation. She is represented in by the Charim gallery.

Further information: www.robertalima.com

Roberta Lima’s Team:
Lauren Klocker (video editing)
Erika Artaker (graphic and exhibition design)
Tomi Kattilakoski (photographs, sound and technical advice)

Special Thanks: Cristiano Selbach, Anna Wassertheurer, Melissa Lumbroso, Philipp Schulz, Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein and boxquadr.at

With kind support of
Federal Ministry Republic of Austria
Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sprort

Program partner of VIENNA ART WEEK 2020

© Roberta Lima, Tomi Kattilakoski; exhibitions views by Philipp Schulz / boxquadr.at