The origins of photography can be traced back to the Sun. Lest we forget, the root of the word comes from Greek and can be read as writing or drawing with light. Cinema is the art of the moving picture as written by the sunlight when it comes into contact with the film. In Jean-Luc Godard’s film Le Petit Soldat (1963), the main character faces the camera and tells it: ‘photography is truth. And cinema is truth twenty four times a second’[1].

Hugo de Almeida Pinho’s Endless Sun: The Cinematic Sunrise, held at gnration (Braga) and curated by Paulo Mendes, is modelled on the notion of Solar Capitalism, the relationship between the Sun, the Earth, energy and technology, expanding on questions concerning the mediation we establish between the Sun and image technologies using cinematic scenarios, as if the film, when moving in an infinite loop, represented a metaphor for a Sol sem fim. The artist states in the text supporting the exhibition: ‘The sun is a mediating element in our collective imagination, as a cultural concept, an authority and a spiritual impulse, wielding an important ideological and biopolitical power’.

Hugo de Almeida Pinho, in his artistic endeavours, has been exploring the relationship between the sun, technology and the human being. As part of a residency at Cripta 747 in Turin in 2020, he started studying solar policies, presenting Theater of Sun. Meanwhile, as a result of research at the Spectro-Heliographer of the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra (OGAUC), which has been photographing the sun almost non-stop every day for a century, he notes the connection between the sun and image technologies such as photography and cinema. Alongside this, on a visit to Morocco, he deepened his studies, both at Central Elétrica de Noor – the largest concentrated solar energy complex in the world – and at Atlas Studios – the world’s largest open-air film studio. He also toured Synlight (Jülich, Germany) – the largest artificial sun on Earth made up of 149 cinema projector lamps[2]..

Drawing on a research practice inspired by philosophy, science, etymology and journalism, as well as folk and mystical knowledge, Pinho develops connections between the star at the centre of our solar system, imaging technologies and the human being, translating them into site-specific installations using various artistic media, such as moving images, sculpture, performance and sound.

Endless Sun: The Cinematic Sunrise leads off by providing a sort of preamble: two monitors displaying a choice of moving images of the Sun from ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA satellites, shot in collaboration with solar physicist Ricardo Gafeira, stating the central theme of the exhibition project: the observation and instrumentalisation of the Sun through optical devices. Interestingly, by using a device positioned in a celestial orbit, images and information about the Sun or other planets can be collected almost in real time.

Nevertheless, the core of the exhibition lies in a darkroom, enveloped in a curtain embroidered with mythological solar motifs, featuring a film-sculpture and a new sound composition by the German artist Manuel Sékou. The sculptural piece was conceived as a reference to the Egyptian god Aton, crowned by a disc with rays topped by hands, but also influenced by Mikhail Matyushin’s futuristic opera Victory over the Sun (1913) and Kazimir Malevich’s costumes, particularly in terms of geometry, colour and theme. The film glides over six small sculpted hands, from a golden disc illuminated by a spotlight, to a 16mm projector, through its mechanical system, reproducing a machine-like and constant sound, culminating in the projection screen with moving images, filmed inside the Spectro-Heliographic of the Coimbra Geophysical Observatory.

The film is formed by close-ups, with an unusual, sci-fi setting, paying attention to the round shapes, the light’s colourful optical spectrum and even the drawings caused by the light reflections on the camera lens. The soundscape reverberating through the space, fostering greater immersion within the installation, is an attempt to replicate the sound of the sun if we could hear it in space. Remarkably, circling round the set, we find a niche lit up in violet tones. This is perhaps an illusionistic and mysterious impression, emphasising the dichotomy between visibility and invisibility that optical effects provoke.

Apart from the more sullen atmosphere, there is another room filled with a warm orange light, as if we were witnessing a sunset. There is a sculptural composition of brass pieces inspired by solar deities, such as the Greek god Agro, but also energy production fields and satellites, summarising our relationship with the sun from ancient times to the present day.

The exhibition project provides the opportunity to reflect on observing the Sun through optical devices from a poetic and symbolic perspective, but also, on a broader spectrum, on contemporary energy and geological policies. Ultimately, it challenges us with the Sun’s significance throughout human history, its relevance today in communication technologies, alternative energies and economic policies, and the future we can conceive for our relationship with the central star of our planetary system.

Endless Sun: The Cinematic Sunrise is at gnration until January 4, 2025. As part of this artistic project, Endless Sun: Capital Blindness can also be visited at Carpintarias de São Lázaro (Lisbon) until February 16, 2025.

[1] Godard, Jean-Luc. (Director). (1963). Le petit soldat [Film].
[2] Roby, Benedita Salema. (2024). Quanto Assombra o Sol?: Cumplicidade Conceptual nos trabalhos de Hugo de Almeida Pinho + Sara Castelo Branco. Umbigo Magazine, pp. 42-44.