Regards d’artistes sur les archives 2- Ausencia Permanente par Délio Jasse

“Délio Jasse (Luanda, 1980) was born and raised in Luanda. He now lives in Lisbon where he settled in at the age of eighteen. His interest in different printing techniques was first aroused through his work with silk screens, although soon afterwards this led him to photography. He soon started experimenting with the different technical possibilities of this medium, especially the alternative processes such as the cyanotype, the platinum/palladium and the Van Dyck Brown.” (extract from Délio Jasse’s website). Ausencia permanente is his latest work.

Ausencia permanente @ Délio Jasse, 2014 – Acrylicy box installation with water (various dimensions)

What is Ausencia permanente about? What did you hope to express through this installation?

Ausencia Permanente talks about the different stories which mingle in today’s Luanda, especially the intersections between Angola and Portugal which are still present and strong.

Why placing the works on the floor in the dark?

I wanted to change the viewers’ perspective, making the photographs tridimensional. Instead of looking at a picture on the wall, the viewer is obliged to walk through them, looking at them from different perspective, being able to see the image both horizontally and vertically.

What is the meaning of colors?

Also with the colors I wanted to orientate the viewers, making them pay attention to different points of views and different details.

Ausencia permanente @ Délio Jasse, 2014

Did you want to refer to analogue photographic printing process by placing your images in boxes filled with water?

Yes, when I started working on the project that was the idea, making the installation look like a dark room. The reference was also to the latent image, which is already on the photographs but we are able to see it just after the developing is over. But, working on the series, the water gained a broader meaning, as it also refers to the Atlantic Ocean which connects Luanda and Lisbon.

Where does your interest for forgotten photographic printing techniques come from and how does it relate to the issues your work raises?

I was working in a screen printing atelier and there I had access to alternative processes, my interest started from there. As I work with the concept of memory, this kind of process helps me giving images a new meaning and a new fiction.

Ausencia permanente @ Délio Jasse, 2014

Where do these documents come from? Why choosing to superimpose portraits and landscapes? Is it an attempt to fill in the gaps of memory?

I took the images of the landscapes in Luanda, while the portraits and most of the stamps come from Lisbon’s second-hand market (but some of the stamps are from my documents). I chose to superimpose these 3 different elements to create a new narrative, a new fiction of the history we already knew.

Ausencia permanente @ Délio Jasse, 2014