FERNANDA FRAGATEIRO
Montijo, Portugal, 1962
Received the Fundación Botín Art Grant in 2004

Um caminho que não é um camino (A Road That Is Not A Road), 2005
600 x 75,5 x 12 cm
Wood, steel and mirror
Gift of the artist 2005

Fernanda Fragateiro’s interest lies in the impact of architecture and urban planning on human interaction, but also in its sculptural quality. Most of her works take their formal cue from architectural details or fragments, while she often uses found construction material she gathers while roaming around the city.

This sculpture is a replica of a duckboard pathway she encountered while scouting the grounds of Ciudad Abierta (Open City, located outside of Valparaiso, in Chile). Its title is inspired by Road that Is Not a Road and the Open City, Ritoque, Chile, a 1996 publication that surveys this unique open-air laboratory for architecture and urban planning conceived in the early 1970s by an architect and a poet. The mirrors placed under the structure enact the change of status of what was once a utilitarian construction.