Effort-performance [Group show]

The expression “Effort-Performance” refers to a concept coined by the theories of
motivation with the aim of explaining the triggering elements of behavior in order to produce
incentive models. Therefore, it is grounded on the assumption that an individual’s action is
hinged on his expectancy of future events. In sum: an outcome is associated with an effort.
Resorting to such construct — primarily applied to corporate governance — in an crossover
approach within the context of art exhibition challenges what should remain as a drive for
artistic creation, as well as the effectiveness of performance; and transforms the possibility
of creating with an end in itself in a moot point.

Furthermore, this expedient here also ventilates the discussion on the ways to think about the
troubled state of the collective spirit through new aesthetic propositions/gestures/dispositions. 
Following a turn-of-the-year which dragged such heavy and intricate social tensions along,
this show gathers works that, as a whole, point to lowered expectations, if any. This way, it
somewhat defies the widespread dreamland depicted in speeches about economic growth,
great constructions and humongous events.

Drawn by the idea of a time bereft of high expectations as the prerequisite to conceive
efforts abreast of the present challenges, it endeavors to break a consensus shaped by the
social belief of “country of the future." It then comes up with other pace: not the hectic and
hopeful one that inspirited the prowess of public decision-makers’ remarks over the last
decade, who, even if witnessing collapse, insisted on foretelling a future juncture capable of
leading to desirable transformations. In this vein, the exhibition proposes not to fall in line,
but else to pursue this time’s current latencies. 

It creates opportunity for different propositions to indicate, each in their own way, a certain
detachment from the sign of spectacularism and narratives bound by an appeal for the
masses and the global signification. It encompasses manifestations that are framed in their
own locales, putting in perspective our assumptions of significance and our foci of attention.
In-between movements of recurrence and scattering; personal accounts and blurred vision;
wear and tear; overwhelming and numbness, a heterogeneous whole is built where senses
are either assertive or elusive, but likewise prone to prompting experiences of new forms of
influence on onlookers.

GERMANO DUSHÁ