Matheus Rocha Pitta. For the winners the potatoes

About

The  expression “for the winners the potatoes” is taken from Joachim Maria Machado de Assis’ highly influential but almost unknown in Europe Brazilian novel Quincas Borba (1891).

At Künstlerhaus Bethanien as well as at two stations on the U8 track where an installation and a sculpture respectively announces and offers its potato prize to the public (Hermannplatz and Gesundbrunnen), Rocha Pitta presents a precarious gallery of trophies made of plastic bags, concrete and potatoes which are made available for the public. An archaeological-like path frames the performative piece conceptually, questioning the meaning of holding a “trophy”.

By replacing glory for potatoes, Rocha Pitta aims to perform a ‘twisted’ gesture on the hierarchy of winners and losers, inviting us to unearth another value for loss and victory.