on banality - volume 1

It is easier to recognize something banal than to define banality. In medieval feuds, a banal thing - a mill, for example - was a possession of the feudal lord that could (or should) be used by any vassal at a corresponding rate. The first meaning of banal refers to that used by all, but possessed only by one. Nowadays, banality refers to things of trivial use and little originality, which can be employed by anyone in any situation, without exceptional implications or consequences. The banal happened to be identified with what counts for all and therefore does not belong to anyone.
It is remarkable that the banality of things results from them being "from all over the world" and, over time, they have dissociated themselves from the original authorship that may one day have been associated with them. It is as if the very success of the diffusion of an object, expression, or idea would eventually lower it into some imaginary hierarchy of values of originality or authenticity. This is particularly intriguing when we think of language, where terms need to be shared by many people to be effective, because communication happens with codes shared in the indistinct region of what is "between us."
Thus, although it is usually evoked in a pejorative tone, banality is of special interest to many contemporary artists. The very possibility of banal objects being perceived as art has already been tried and debated to exhaustion and, without having to test this hypothesis again, several artists today refuse the lands of the "great" genres, subjects or techniques to dedicate themselves to scraping poetry and possibilities that reside on the level of banality itself. This can lead to the winding paths of popular "taste," the basest and generic principles of language, or the unpretentiousness of everyday personal notes.
What is important here is not to demonstrate how artists can do something special by using trivial things and materials. On the contrary, it is to accompany them in the handling of the banal as banal, taking advantage of their supposed lack of specificity, aura and courage in trying to think their meanings and more disconcerting meanings.
Although banal is read as vulgar because it does not have a recognizable owner, it is in fact very close to what we are and exercise in our daily babblings. To deal from within art, with the epidermis of the banal is an opportunity to pay attention to what weaves the fabric of our life when we are not particularly attentive to it. As the popular lullaby John Lennon wrote for his son says, "Life is what happens when we're busy making other plans."

Paulo Miyada
Julia Lima