Duets

PUBLIC PLAYLIST

44:49duration

18 artworks

9 artists

In music, a duet is the intimate act of two voices or instruments coming together to create harmony, dialogue, and contrast. It is a delicate interplay where individuality coexists with collaboration—a shared space where each voice is distinct yet intertwined. Extending beyond music, the concept of the duet serves as a metaphor for broader creative partnerships: between artist and material, idea and form, viewer and artwork. This dual structure invites reflection on how relationships—both complementary and conflicting—form the foundation of artistic creation and interpretation.

This playlist, curated by Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti and presented by CIFRA, uses the concept of “duets” as a curatorial framework to explore interrelations in art. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogism, the show foregrounds the relational nature of creativity, where meaning arises not from isolated entities but from encounters and exchanges. In Bakhtin’s terms, every voice exists in relation to another, forming a polyphony of perspectives. Similarly, the duet is not merely a pairing but a dynamic space for negotiation, reciprocity, and discovery. The works on view embody dualities: two artists working in tandem or in contrast, a single artist engaging with their multiple personas, two media converging, or two temporalities brought into dialogue.

This structure also aligns with Rosalind Krauss’s concept of the expanded field, where the boundaries of artistic practices dissolve, creating opportunities for hybrid forms and interstitial spaces. By exploring these dualities, the playlist asks: How do moments of connection—between individuals, materials, or ideas—shape artistic meaning? And how does the interplay of “two” challenge our perception of authorship, identity, and creativity? In this sense, the duet reminds us that the act of creation is never singular or fixed but is constantly shaped by its relationship to the other. The duet, then, is both an act of completion and an acknowledgment of incompleteness—a space where the artist and their counterpart (be it another artist, collaborator, material, or viewer) remain in perpetual dialogue. Through this lens, the exhibition extends its inquiry into the temporal and spatial dimensions of duets.

The works on display often bridge past and present, engaging with historical materials or references that invite us to consider how cultural memory is reimagined and reinterpreted in the present; or in other cases, the duet is seen as a shared environment, where relationships are not fixed but evolve within a spatial framework. This relational quality underscores the curatorial strategy, with the works in “Duets” emphasizing art as a space of encounter—between artist and viewer, self and other, material and meaning. In this way, the exhibition questions the notion of art as a static product, reframing it instead as an evolving conversation, in line with the ethos of co-creation, which underscores the cultural production of the Scalera & Cramerotti curatorial duo.

By engaging with these diverse perspectives, “Duets” invites viewers to consider the multifaceted nature of creative relationships. Just as a musical duet encompasses harmony, dissonance, and improvisation, the works here reflect the dynamic exchanges that define artistic practice. Whether exploring dualities within the self, between collaborators, or across disciplines, the exhibition celebrates the transformative potential of connection. Creation, it suggests, is always a duet—a shared endeavor that invites us to listen, to see, and to respond.

Link here:

https://cifra.com/playlist/c5ba0322-43e9-4ada-9c0f-ccb4e8352546