The process is the work: notes on Geraldo de Barros’ “Sobras” series

Abstract

During his last years, Geraldo de Barros was involved in creating the “Sobras” series, which has not been completed due to his death in 1998. Because of this abrupt interruption of such a creative process, nowadays, it is not possible to precise what Barros still intended to do with that work. Despite such limitation, this article aims at understanding what principles guided Barros during the “Sobras” series’ development. This investigation was carried out through analyzing most of the artifacts currently exhibited as part of the “Sobras” series’ body of works, along with a considerable amount of the creative process’ materials. Such an approach was guided by Cecilia Almeida Salles’ criticism of the process' methodology. This paper concludes that the “Sobras” series has to be understood as a work in process, not because it has remained unfinished, but on account of the fact that this dynamic perspective was what led Barros through his last creative process.