4 | While Nothing Happens, baby, 2010
An enormous structure hangs heavily from one point in the ceiling. We see the weight-arm holding the work in balance – seemingly fragile textiles filled with sand. Are you curious about how the work looks from below? How can a few sacks of sand keep this large and apparently heavy structure balanced?

Questions like this intrigue Neto and have spurred him on ever since he made his first textile work. But in addition to the fascinating experience of weight, this installation speaks more subtly to us, through our olfactory sense. A smell cannot be seen – it just sneaks into our nose. Neto connoisseurs’s say the smell ‘penetrates us’; this is usually how one would describe the strongest form of intimacy between two people, and many would argue that this is the key concept underlying Neto’s art. In fact, several elements in his art support this view. The heavy sacks hanging from the ceiling are made of polyamide, which has skin-like qualities. The material is porous: we see spices seeping through or penetrating the delicate membranes. The effect resembles our skin’s ability to absorb or secrete fluid. There is something intimate and fragile about the skin-like material and the shapes Neto creates with it. But there is more: Neto challenges our ability to integrate with the sculptures in a way that preserves their beauty and uniqueness. The slightest touch will disturb the perfect experience, so the work relies on our empathy and intuitive understanding. 

Neto uses different spices in this work; here we find cumin, cloves, ginger and turmeric. Hanging in the droplet-shaped sacks, the fragrant spices suggest something exotic and alluring. The smells evoke memories. It also seems natural to think of Neto’s Brazilian background. By incorporating spices into his art, he points to historical connections between his native country and Europe, where Africa has also played a prominent role. Thus the work becomes a reminder of relations between colonizers and their colonies, and takes on a more reflective political tone.

This sculpture is a somewhat smaller version of the work While Nothing Happens, created in 2008 for MACRO, a contemporary art museum in Rome.