The Owl in Daylight is an exhibition by Daniel Frota de Abreu and Pedro Moraes, unfolding through a series of scattered interventions and performances across the year. These moments might or might not overlap in time and space. The exhibition’s presence is often transitory, yet at times it feels permanent. Its form will vary, existing somewhere between the discrete and the continuous, between words spoken loudly and softly. The structure of the show is constantly open to re-evaluation, subject to new interpretations while it stands – hoping it won’t fall apart. And if it does, we’re still left with the same question: how do you build a world that doesn’t fall apart after three days?
The title The Owl in Daylight comes from an unwritten novel by Philip K. Dick. The book exists only as an interview transcript from 1982, the year of Dick’s death, where he describes the entire plot. The novel is told from the perspective of a character living in a place without atmosphere. With no sound whatsoever, speech has never developed, and words are non-existent. The fact that the book was never written mirrors the trap Dick created for himself – an attempt to build a world beyond his sensory and linguistic limitations. Now, detached from his body and senses, the book can finally be written by the author.
— You used a scalpel! That’s why you could write as if you were performing surgery. Imagine using a tree trunk to trace a line. This is in fact my favorite writing tool! The words get really, really blunt, true. But at least they become visible! Large! Your words would gain an expressionist style, so to speak.
— So, what you're saying is that my scalpel lacks expression, while this tree trunk that you’re holding lacks precision.
— Not only that! Your scalpel makes things too clear, too clean, you know. And that’s because your movements are all contrived, small. You’re only moving your wrist.
— Huh, so, how do you call all these unintelligible scrawls you’re writing with your tree trunk? How do you call this total mess? Freedom of expression?
— I prefer to call it opacity.