Cecília Lima
Continent
2025
Sculpture
Plastic bags from the brand Continente, granite dust, magnets, and graphite
11 × 172 × 2 cm

Work composed of 30 bags of cereal bars from the brand Continente, containing granite dust inside.

The height of the dust accumulated within each bag corresponds, in scale, to the 30 highest mountains in the world, considering the tallest from each continent: Asia, Antarctica, Europe, Africa, Oceania, South America, and North America. The brand of the bags used in the composition belongs to the supermarket group of the same name, the first hypermarket chain in Portugal. Continente stems from the desire to map great altitudes and portions of matter through the smallest possible content: stone dust — especially granite — a type of rock present in the mineral composition of much of the mountainous formations of the Earth's crust. Beyond a play of scales that flirts with geography and imagination, Continente alludes to the etymology of the word — that which contains, that which holds matter, territory, content. It also refers to the capital symbol of something that is purchased. Ultimately, it is a remark on humanity’s exploratory relationship with the Earth through rampant mining.