O gesto do corpo - o corpo do gesto

The present dissertation aims to develop an Artistic Project based on the exploration of a process where the gesture is seen as a time and a body register and, in parallel, a Theoretical Study that focuses on these three terms and which also underlines the strong importance of repetition, using texts from authors as diverse as Júlio Pomar, Robert Morris, Louise Bourgeois, Sigmund Freud, Roland Barthes, Mia Couto, José Gil, Giorgio Agamben, Hal Foster and Antonio Damásio, among many others. This research has as main objective to analyze my modus operandi and to reflect on two times: the first one, related to the creative process and the second referring to the product resulting from it. A brief historical context is then made about the origin of Process Art, Action Painting, and Soft Sculpture. The intimate (and infinite) time of the artistic ritual freedom is addressed, as well as of the repetitive, unproductive and quasi-unconscious gesture present in it. It also addresses the archival nature of art, the power of memory and the relevance given to improvisation and the tactility of the materials used. It is latter affirmed the importance of the body as an instrument of time, as well as the beauty of the performative rhythm between artist and object. It announces the value given to oblivion and an automatism that enables a full commitment of body and spirit. And the intentions of the artist who desires to transform and suspend the time so the observer remembers his perishable condition and the latent fragility in everything that surrounds him are set forth. The relevance of the organicity and the manuality, both in my project and the artists mentioned, as well as the weight of the expression Memento Mori, is also stated. Finally, art is thought of as a fragment resulting from a set of primordial gestures, and the importance of starting each project without knowing its end is emphasize