Perpetual Motion Machine presents the final chapter of the speculative narrative that describes life in Domain, a virtual and terraformed reality created by Pedro Moreira in 2017 and activated since then through different moments, disciplines, materials, and artistic contexts.
In this fictional universe, we can follow the existence, at once utopian and dystopian, of four tripplesapiens who inhabit a world where death is a process of reappearance, but also the result of an incorruptible bond in exchange for eternal life. Characters who develop relationships of tension, conflict or complementarity with each other, as they are intrinsically aligned with a cosmogony defined by order, chaos, neutrality and truth.
Delving into theological realms and esotericism to an equal extent, this project is loosely inspired by Mormon dogma — introduced to Pedro Moreira since their childhood — while also suggesting analogies with texts from other religions, such as Christianity, Judaism or Hinduism, drawing on medieval Kabbalism and the figure of the Golem, as well as some of the mystical and occult practices of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and images from its Tarot oracle. Likewise, the artist explores an intimate connection with literature, namely with the short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, from which the names for the post-human entities that inhabit this exhibition are taken.
In the limbo between the beliefs of Historical Progress and of total nihilism, Pedro Moreira creates in Perpetual Motion Machine an allegory that, although covered by a fantastic dimension, nevertheless echoes certain circumstances associated with contemporary anxieties and issues, seeking to reflect on the place of spirituality in today’s world, but also on the danger of political polarisation and the fatal threat of collapse and entropy.
David Revés, curator
