The title of the exhibition conceived by Pedro Tudela for the Boiler Hall at Tejo Power Station is awdiˈtɔrju – the phonetic transcription of the word auditorium in Portuguese. Even in this transition from a linguistic convention which is not commonly known among the general population, there is a moment of initial oddness which points precisely to the perceptive glide which his work provokes in the viewer. In reality, the entire Boiler Hall space became a stage for an immersive experience which combines a sound piece that accompanies three moments throughout which the space is inhabited by one sculpture and two installations, in a meticulously-designed choreography based on elements such as a suspended bell (made specifically for this context) in a fragile balance with wings lying on the ground, seven bell jars dripping into as many black holes, and a hallway of light covered by transparent tiles.
The idea of working a space like the Power Station’s Boiler Hall, deconstructing its condition as a cathedral of modernity, through destabilising elements of that modernity in the visual arts (and respective disciplinary autonomy), such as light and sound as materials for dematerialising the artistic object, here is turned by Pedro Tudela (b. 1962) into a unique experience which simultaneously uses the bells and bell jars as an allegory alerting us to the conditions in which we currently inhabit our natural environment and how we abuse it.