Ticiano Rottenstein (1981) was born amidst the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, but considers himself a citizen of the world. He spent more than a decade as a sports manager and, after living on several continents, he decided to settle in Portugal to pursue his artistic career. His present research deals with the process of contemporary decay and attempts, based on this entropic dynamic, to dialogue with the fragmented memories of a deteriorating society. Having authored pieces such as Cromeleque Pós-Industrial, he has already been exhibited in countries such as Portugal, Germany, France, Brazil and Gambia. He recently debuted the installation/performance Arrenda-se T0, shown during the housing crisis protests in late September this year and which went viral on social media. In the wake of that event, Umbigo now invites him to share a little more of his career with the public.

Thank you for coming!

We already mentioned in the introduction that you have had a different career for most of your life. Can you tell us a bit more about your artistic drive?

My parents are visual artists and I have always been surrounded by the artistic universe. However, during my teenage years and early adulthood, that was not really my focus. I was passionate about basketball, having been an athlete and then a sports manager. Graffiti came into my life in the early 2000s and I started doing it without any goals. As time went by, I became increasingly interested and also experimented with other mediums such as canvas painting, ceramics, engraving and sculpture. There came a point when I finally realised that all my energy, focus and interest was devoted to art. It made no sense to continue down another path. I vividly remember 2013, the year I decided to give up my career as a sports manager and devote myself solely to what I loved. I went to the Faculty of Fine Arts and simultaneously started carving out an artistic career in Brazil under the pseudonym Baba Jung. I moved to Portugal in 2019 to take an MA in Sculpture at FBAUL and I’m currently doing a PhD at the same institution.

How decisive was the move to Portugal for your artistic career?

I would say it was both challenging and decisive. It was challenging because, in Brazil, I only lived off my art and I had already become part of the artistic world. I was beginning again from scratch, in an unknown country and without any networking. It was out of this rupture that I came to discover my true name: Ticiano Rottenstein.

How did the move to Seixal happen?

I lived in a small flat in São Vicente, Lisbon, during my first year in Portugal. It was difficult, as the pandemic quickly took hold and my partner became pregnant. We decided to look for a more suitable environment to raise our daughter and found a bigger flat. Quickly we realised that the rents in the capital were out of line with our budget and we looked for an alternative close to Lisbon, but with prices that matched our circumstances. That was when the opportunity to live in Seixal came up. In hindsight, I feel we made the right decision. From the moment we arrived here, fate seemed to have conspired in our favour in both the family and professional arenas. Artistically speaking, I’m extremely grateful to Seixal, especially the town hall, which has always supported me in different artistic projects, such as residencies, exhibitions, public installations, etc. Inspirationally, Seixal is also a major influence on my artistic creation thanks to its significant industrial past and its many remaining factories. Industrial decay has been one of the main focuses of my work in recent years, since I see its presence as one of the greatest icons of the decline of our current society.

It seems that rescuing the fragmented memories associated with these structures is a key component of your work. Will you tell us a little about how this curiosity to explore… shall we say – cromlechs and monoliths from the recent past came about?

I wanted to be an archaeologist as a child and was extremely interested in excavations and collecting historical vestiges. That childhood passion, which remained asleep for many years, has surfaced again in my current artistic research. I believe that my work straddles interdisciplinary boundaries between urban archaeology and the visual arts. Gathering fragments of the recent past is a central component of this creative process. I’m literally a memory hoarder! From these thrown-away objects, I develop sculptures, assemblages and installations that engage in dialogue with urban entropy and address, explicitly or implicitly, a range of problems within the present social model that, in my opinion, is doomed to collapse. For example, this is the case with the sculptural installation Cromeleque Pós-Industrial. This work was inspired by the Portuguese megalithic monuments, but has been developed with new interpretations and modern symbolism. Constructed using only waste wood collected from Fábrica Mundet, the work was publicly installed in Baía da Amora, Seixal. Whilst our ancestors’ monuments worshipped gods and nature, my cromlechs pay tribute to modern values, such as the idolisation of capital, consumerism and material possessions. Besides being a critique, the work is intended to spark reflection on what legacy we want to leave for future generations and point to new sustainable pathways for a change in collective consciousness.

Do you believe that contemporary art is a key to exercising citizenship, whilst thinking about one’s own reality?

I feel that each artist has their own personal needs driving their creative process, with multiple motivations. As far as I’m concerned, I reckon that an important mission of my work is to depict everyday life, the events and problems of my time. I do not want to create art based solely on aesthetic beauty and void of content, but rather something that stirs up discomfort and awakens reflection in people. There is clearly a critical and cautionary component to my work, but also positive and hopeful messages. To answer your question, yes, I do believe that art can be used as a powerful tool to trigger reflection and encourage individual and collective change.

Do you think fatherhood has a bearing on this process?

Absolutely. Becoming a father completely changed my outlook on life. Previously, the long-term future was not a recurring thought and I was very much centred on the present. Nowadays, I’m extremely concerned about my daughter’s future and that of the planet. This is inevitably mirrored in my current work.

Now I’d like to delve more deeply into one of your most recent works, Arrenda-se T0; it came into fruition during a protest against the housing crisis, which took place in Lisbon on 29/09 – 30/09. How did you turn your attention to the issue?

The Portuguese housing crisis is devastating. As a parent, immigrant, student and freelance artist, I live with the difficulties arising from this situation on a daily basis. I felt the need, through art, to vent these anguished and frustrated emotions. Such was the starting point behind the installation and performance Arrenda-se T0. This is a tragic-comic satire presented as a protest, a rallying cry and a gesture of solidarity. The installation took the form of a studio flat, fully refurbished and furnished, built from industrial waste and other objects found in dumpsters. The performance involved incorporating a real estate agent, founder of the company Rottenstein Real State. This firm, specialising in luxury real estate, was just launching its new development and was contacting people to show them the house and try to rent it for a “modest” price: 1.800 euros. In fact, the work had been ready for a few months, but I was waiting for the right time to get it on the street. The moment came when the national demonstrations against the housing crisis took place, and I held two performances in Alameda da Universidade and Praça do Rossio. I was in the right place at the right time, it all made sense.

What are your upcoming endeavours? I heard first-hand that you are planning to put the piece up for auction…

I am indeed organising a public auction, to be held as part of another performance. The idea is to sell a single package that includes the studio flat, performance sessions, plus complete audiovisual material. The concept of having an auction in a public square is designed to democratise access and participation for everyone. The money raised from the sale will go to an organisation dedicated to improving the living conditions of homeless and socially fragile people. The project is ongoing and I’m currently looking for institutions, foundations or collectors interested in taking part in the auction.