Jogo de Velha Serie C 8A (Tic-Tac-Toe Serie C 8A)

Cildo Meireles has embraced elements of minimalist, conceptual, performance and installation art in his extensive oeuvre. Many of his best known works were created during the Brazilian Dictatorship (1964-1985) and constituted a protest against the repression of the regime. His installations and smaller works are often quite sensually arresting and incorporate found objects. With Jogo de Velha Serie C 8A, Meireles arranges yellow wooden rulers into nine squares on masonite. He paints five X's in black and four O's in an identical yellow on each square. The piece visually engages the viewer through the visual tension between the daubed markings and the details of the rulers as well as the use of a limited but effective palette. The X's almost appear like targets and themes from his earlier political works are discernable. With the rulers one cannot help seeing the oppressive force in the need to measure and corral. One can also extrapolate from the game of naughts and crosses an allusion to power and its cruel vicissitudes. However, though the crosses in black may dominate the board visually, it is the nearly invisible naughts which have won the game. Might has failed as a latent order and begins to assert itself in a piece emblematic of Meireles aesthetic and social concerns.