Caroline Mesquita: Astray: Prologue

French artist Caroline Mesquita presents her project “Astray” in two chapters, taking place in two different venues, namely the Kunsthalle Lissabon and the Galeria Municipal do Porto, which both collaborated to the realisation of the exhibition. The first part, named “Prologue”, is on view in the former, where the artist completely upset the gallery’s architecture. For the occasion, Mesquita recreates a new setting, combining the imaginary of the archaeological exploration and the one of science fiction: in the middle of the room’s broken floor, an ambiguous and unknown machine lies motionless and half-buried in the ground. Between its pieces, some bones are visible as remains of those who used the strange machinery. Caroline Mesquita recreates a disconcerting scenery, which tells the alternative story of another civilization or society whose identity is uncertain and which leaves visitors without any additional information.