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Tirsa, 2020
Robert Schad
Corten steel

Robert Schad is the author of several drawing and sculpture exhibitions and several public works, using welded solid steel bars of different sizes and which, despite being exceptionally heavy, show an incredible lightness. One of his most recognized works is the High Cross, placed at the Sanctuary of Fátima, Portugal. For Santo Tirso he conceived the sculpture Tirsa, in honor of the name of the city, located in front of the Santo Thyrso Factory.

Tirsa metaphorically addresses the time lapse between visual perception and reality conformation. An indeterminate and symbolic time that can only be measured by its quality. A strong metallic structure that dialogs with the most iconic architectural element from the old Santo Tirso Factory – the “chimney pipe” – made of lines that aggregate and fragment into fluid and erratic conveniences, drawing paths marked by intersections, inflections, new ways and meanings that suggest passages and moments, formalizing a timeless dimension. The piece, with strong formal depuration, takes a choreographed metric, structuring a language that develops a system in which the artistic practice is, fundamentally, understood as composition, as if it were a dance. It assumes a defiant and unpredictable balance that conveys an intense rhythm that incorporates a spiritual dimension based on patrimonial and identity references of great historic significance.