Aquaria — Or The Illusion of a Boxed Sea

Funded: Armin Linke

A key work in the exhibition is the newly commissioned film 'Oceanarium' by Armin Linke in collaboration with Giulia Bruno (camera, editing) and Giuseppe Ielasi (sound, editing). Linke is internationally known for his body of work which includes photography and films that employ in-depth, multidisciplinary exploration of our technological culture and scientific advancement to analyse the transformation of the environment.

Filmed entirely inside the Lisbon Oceanarium and its backstage in September 2020, the film examines aquatic architecture as an infrastructure that embeds a variety of potentials: a model for nature within the urban space, a living archive of natural species, a scientific place for research and observation on ethological forms, a resource for the preservation of endangered species and a baroque artistic theatre machine, in which the wonders of nature are displayed through hidden, well-orchestrated technology. At the same time, the movie subtly compares the aquarium's performance to that of art: the living collection is displayed as a living sculpture in which the horizontal hierarchies of 'inside and outside' (the public and the fish) and of vertical 'up and down' (display space and infrastructure or maintenance areas) are dictated by the architectural layout.

The exhibition is supported by the ifa exhibition funding.