ARTFUL Talk #5 – Objective Form and Carmela Gross’ Roda Gigante: Value, Waste and Weight
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ARTFUL Talk #5 – Objective Form and Carmela Gross’ Roda Gigante: Value, Waste and Weight

16th November 2026
University Of Leeds

Join us for the latest in our ARTFUL talks series, with speaker Gail Day (Professor of Art History and Critical Theory in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies).

What happens when an artwork strongly grounded in one context moves to another? The consensus has long been that the work must be diminished in some way – becoming a mere copy, abstracted, and emptied of its animating content. But what if we ask questions not only of ‘site specificity’ but also of ‘historical specificity’?

The talk attends to Carmela Gross’ striking, large-scale installation Roda Gigante (Big Wheel), tracing its passage from its first exhibition at Porto Alegre’s Farol Santander in 2019 to its reiteration in Sao Paulo’s SESC Pompeia in 2024.

By exploring Gross’ imagined dialogue with architect Lina Bo Bardi and the Brazilian debates about ‘objective form’, might the 2024 iteration deepen Roda Gigante’s specificity and charge?

*About the series*

The aim of the ARTFUL lunchtime talks series is to bring together students, postgraduate researchers and staff to showcase our culture of vibrant research and creative practice across the school and beyond.

Taking place on Monday during term time, speakers will include researchers, artists and practitioners.

Whilst primarily aimed at our school community, anyone interested in the series is welcome to join us. There is no need to book – just turn up!