PARA-FUNCTIONALITIESWith Carlos Mensil

“Finito” by Renato Ferrão, is the starting point of “Para-funcionalidades”, an activity led by visual artist Carlos Mensil. It was very early on that artist Carlos Mensil discovered the pleasure of playing with the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the paraphernalia of objects he had access to in his father's workshop. In this activity, he brings objects that he has been exploring in his works since then: motors, valves, water pumps, hoses, potentiometers, transformers, lamps, different types of magnifying lenses… Of industrial origin, these objects are, by definition, endless reproductions of each other, and their functionality usually leads them to paths far from the field of art. Here, after a guided tour of the Renato Ferrão exhibition, the participants will discover the properties of each component, looking for the transformative or expressive potential of each one. Unexpectedly, the objects return to certain functionality and, by chance, become artworks.

Carlos Mensil (Santo Tirso, 1988) is a visual artist, lives and works in Porto. Graduated and master by Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, he has exhibited regularly since 2012 and is a co-founding member of the independent collective Campanice. He is represented by NO·NO Gallery (Lisbon).