>Bonetti, David. Making a name for Portugal: Videos at Pond deal with nature of time.
San Francisco Chronicle. 08Dec2001

"After the Carnations," the exhibition of contemporary Portuguese art that recently filled Yerba Buena Center for the Arts'
galleries, was one of the most rewarding -- and enjoyable -- surveys to appear here in a long time. "Air Portugal II," a show at
Pond of video projections by seven young Portuguese artists joined by five Bay Area peers, offers additional evidence that
Portugal has to be added to the international art map.

Portuguese media artists are interested in the same issues media artists in other countries are: the nature of technology,
the self, narrative, fantasy and how passing time looks in time-based art. They are not afraid of impurity; sound and text
naturally accompany visual imagery. Commercial uses of technology offer a model as well as an obstacle to self-expression.

In Tiago Batista's brief black-and-white work, he recites his credo: "I believe in art. I do art. I am an artist. I am a teacher.
I'm a genius. I'm going to be a father."
Pedro Cabral Santo's triptych of Superman, Batman and Robin spilling their guts is a droll recitation of professional complaints.
You thought it was easy to be a superhero. If you only knew. Read it as an allegory of the artist's life.
Alexandre Estrela and Joao Simoes are both interested in translations from European technological systems to American.
And Miguel Soares is involved in translating comic book fantasy into digital form. His video of debris floating in space around
a planet like satellites is serene in its pace.
More explicitly about time are works by Susana Guardado, who makes popping corn as dramatic and violent as a Wagnerian
opera, and Eva Mota, whose work centered on dance movements is based in music videos.
The San Francisco artists offer additional variations on technological art's standard themes. All the works, Portuguese and
American, are engaging visually and intellectually.
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GALLERY SHOWS
AIR PORTUGAL II: Video and media works through Dec. 16 at Pond, 214 Valencia St., San Francisco. (415) 437-9151.