1

Mateus Coelho

Did you have any particular associations with this number before this project?

I’ve always thought about a number only as a number, thus, I can’t say that I had a connection with that number before. I think that numbers could have different meanings in different contexts. To make this project I’ve contacted many friends and asked what the number 1 means to them to realize what I could do with this.

What led you to make this piece of art?

I think I would like to express our social oppressions and how our societies are built upon these oppressions.

What are you trying to telegraph here? What messages are you hoping the viewer gets from it?

For the number one I thought about the price that you need to pay to be the one. Thinking about the richest country in the world and the price that Americans pays to stay in this position. Mostly about the structural racism, and how it’s important to build the ‘american way of life’. USA had centuries of slavery, and those were fundamental to constructed the United States society and economy. To me it is impossible to think about the USA without thinking about poverty and social chasms.

Born in a small city in south Brazil, Mateus Coelho actually is a PhD student and an amateur photographer. His research focuses on gender, feminism and decolonial studies. Always thinking from interdisciplinary bases connecting academia, art and social movements.