Encontros imediatos de segundo grau [Close Encounters of the Second Kind]

Based on the scientific categorisation of J. Allen Hynek, an American astronomer who contributed to the understanding of unidentified flying objects, Encontros Imediatos de Segundo Grau [Close Encounters of the Second Kind] aims to draw a parallel between an encounter with something unidentified and the physical or physiological effect of a first reaction to a work of art. By thinking of these encounters as a speculative practice, the exhibition will bring together different works by 12 artists who focus on the creation of new realities and materialities poised between the saturation of images and the material dystopia of created objects. Invoking ideas of alienation, danger or uncertainty, could the individual experience with an art work be likened to a close encounter of the second kind? Could the repetition of aesthetic experiences serve to weaken the reaction to new, previously unknown works? Or is the extraterrestrial strangeness a driving force for the viewer’s fascination?