MICRO-BIO

• Sofia Ponte (born in Lisbon, 1978) is a Guest Professor at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP), where she teaches Contemporary Art theory and related topics. She holds a PhD by FBAUP with the research project "Transforming Fun...More

  Sofia Ponte (born in Lisbon, 1978) is a Guest Professor at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP), where she teaches Contemporary Art theory and related topics. She holds a PhD by FBAUP with the research project "Transforming Functional Art into Museum Objects" (2016). She completed her Master in Visual Culture at the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the art project "Daydreaming Devices" (2008). She was granted a fellowship by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2012-2016) and a adavance study grant by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (2006-2008). She graduated in Fine Arts-Sculpture at FBAUP in 2001. Co-founder and member of the art group Unstable Media with whom she curated the "Do it Yourself-Art by Instruction" (2016) and "The Scatered Book" (2017) in Porto. Since February 2017 she has been Guest Researcher at "A Look at Contemporarary Art" program by Serralves Museum of Art Education Department. She was member of the jury of the Viartes 2017 Public Art Prize (promoted by Sonae Sierra) and the Porta Nova Public Art Award (promoted by Braga Municipal Council). Her research interests consider Museum Education, Art Exhibitions, Curatorship, Functional Art and Public Art. She is member of i2ADS - Institute of Research in Art, Design and Society.

  Less

EXPERIENCE

• University of Porto

  • Researcher
  • School of Fine Arts
  • April 2017 to Present

• Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto

  • Guest Researcher
  • Department of Education
  • January 2017 to March 2018

• School of Fine Arts, University of Porto

  • Guest Professor
  • Fine Arts Department
  • October 2010 to Present

• List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

  • Research Assistant
  • Curatorial Department
  • May 2008 to September 2008

• Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon

  • Guide
  • Department of Education
  • January 2004 to August 2006

EDUCATION

• School of Fine Arts, University of Porto

  • PhD
  • September 2012 to December 2016

  This thesis addresses the challenge of exhibiting functional works of art in museums. Functional Art is a contemporary segment of art related to Public Art, which materializes through an unmistakable connection between its conceptual, social and functional dimensions. By filling in an existing gap in the study of the exhibition strategies of such works of art, and by analysing its transformation into a museum object, this research investigates the presence of Functional Art in museums. On the one hand, the research empirical field helps to clarify the concept of Functional Art, and on the other, investigates some of the challenges of its exhibition. The research is based on a theoretical review and on the collection of primary source testimonials. Furthermore, it develops an interconnected analysis that deepens in the concept of “function” in the light of a more recent typology of Public Art related both to Socially Engaged Art, and the ideas of “postconceptual art” and “social turn” of art.

• School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

  • SmViSs
  • August 2006 to September 2008

  Daydreaming Devices is a project on aspects of daydream and the design of convertible furniture within the context of art. This thesis addresses the concepts and the design of two daydreaming devices developed during my studies at MIT, the Dreaming Lounge and the Working Unit. Both works create a place for contemplation and generate what I call "ambiguous forms of knowledge." These art works cultivate relations between personal and collective agency while demystifying implicit aspects of socialization. They were designed as utilitarian and emotional artifacts; existing in public or semipublic spaces, they reach their maximum potential when activated within a group of people. Their aim is to affect an understanding of the waking life, sometimes uselessly and strictly relegated to the obscurity of intimacy.

• School of Fine Arts, University of Porto

  • Fine Arts - Sculpture Degree
  • September 1996 to September 2001

Interests

• Digital Heritage

• Public Art

• Functional Art

• Curatorship

• Art Exhibitions

• Museum Education

Links

• academia.edu
• Linkedin
• Unstable Media (art group)