Palíndromo Incesto

The name of this artwork was devised by Tunga to indicate directions for its understanding: a palindrome is a phrase or expression that reads the same backwards as forwards. The direct meaning of the Portuguese word incesto [incest], the sexual act with blood relatives, can be complemented with a play on words – in cesto, that is, “in a basket.” The larger-than-life elements in the installation, which allude to the instruments of weaving such as a needle, thimble, thread and basket, flow through the web of meanings to a common aggregate meaning, a contiguous allegory of a consanguineous relation between the objects and significations.