SARASOTA, FLA..- Multimedia artist Carlos Bunga employs light as both a medium and a metaphor for hope and reflection in “Reassembling Spilt Light: An Immersive Installation by Carlos Bunga,” on view through Oct. 29 at Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design. The solo exhibition transforms the third-floor gallery with towering structures made of cardboard and other household materials that sculpt the natural light that floods the space. Photographs, drawings, videos and paintings accompany the site-specific work.

Bunga is best known for using mass-produced materials such as cardboard, adhesive tape, commercial house paint and other common household items to create one-of-a-kind installations inspired by urban architecture. He constructed his most recent installation onsite in Sarasota over three weeks without prior planning or direction, giving the space a vital role in shaping the imposing, monumental artwork. The structure is void of additional colors not already found in the material, encouraging visitors to focus on the power of light interacting with architecture.

“Through his work, Carlos Bunga not only encourages viewers to rethink their experience of space and architecture, but he also evokes the transient and fragile nature of urban structures. In our current moment of migration and climate crises, Bunga is tackling contemporary humanitarian issues through his work,” said Virginia Shearer, executive director of Sarasota Art Museum.

Bunga’s artistic practice is inspired by his childhood as an Angolan refugee in Portugal. He grew up in Portuguese government short-term housing that often deteriorated, and the living conditions left a lasting impression on him. Bunga draws from his nomadic experiences and the lack of predictability that comes from living in makeshift housing. He forces himself to work through spatial constraints and permanent objects in the gallery such as lights and security cameras. He also designs the installations to be easily deconstructed to mirror the delicate nature of makeshift housing, urban decay and displacement.

“I'm a nomad. I grew up being a nomad,” said Bunga. “I spent a large portion of my life, which was marked by emigration and loss, moving from house to house. I learned to adapt and find my place in transitory, sometimes precarious, situations. This way of being and navigating through the world has also made me think and do things like a nomad. Each temporary structure that I construct is my attempt to project this idea of a house. I feel closer to a bird that builds its nest than to an architect.”




In “Reassembling Spilt Light,” Bunga pairs his primary structure with other artwork to further showcase the notion of light as a physical and phenomenological component. These works draw attention to the metaphorical notion and physicality of light and emphasize the ways in which light and darkness coexist. “Shadow” (2002), a video work, uses light to trace the physical memory a building leaves behind. In “Lamp” (2002), another video piece, Bunga smashes a lightbulb with a hammer, gathers the broken pieces and reassembles them with glue and tape, illustrating concepts of destruction and reconstruction.

When Bunga found moving blankets in the gallery upon his arrival, he decided to incorporate them into the exhibition as well. He covered them with latex paint and plaster, turning them into abstract paintings to fill empty the gallery walls and guide visitors through the space.

“‘Reassembling Spilt Light’ speaks to our time — a time that desperately requires us to reimagine the future. Bunga’s transformative installation and poetic, thought-provoking conceptual works invite viewers to consider how we shape our surroundings and how our surroundings shape us,” said Rangsook Yoon, Ph.D., Sarasota Art Museum’s senior curator.

Bunga lives and works in Barcelona, Spain. His work has been featured in notable exhibitions and at renowned institutions such as Pérez Art Museum Miami (2009); Hammer Museum in Los Angeles (2011); Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City (2013); Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zürich (2015); the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) in Barcelona, Spain (2015); Whitechapel Gallery in London (2020); Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto (2020); Secession in Vienna (2020); and Palacio de Cristal, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid (2022).

“Reassembling Spilt Light: An Immersive Installation by Carlos Bunga” is organized by Sarasota Art Museum and curated by Rangsook Yoon, Ph.D., Sarasota Art Museum’s senior curator.

Sarasota Art Museum
Carlos Bunga: “Reassembling Spilt Light: An Immersive Installation by Carlos Bunga"
July 23rd, 2023 - October 29th, 2023