Tenho em mim todos os sonhos do mundo
Tenho em mim todos os sonhos do mundo, 2007
2,645 nails
Dimensions variable
The great Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa wrote under many different names – including Alvaro de Campos – to create the unique body of work of a traveller with a thousand faces, estranged from himself in order to bring his characters to life. This line borrowed by the artist from de Campos – “I am nothing... Yet I carry within me all the dreams of the world” – was written in1928. Nearly 3,000 carpentry nails physically, powerfully spell it out on a wall in Times New Roman typeface, which was designed around the same time, in1931, by Victor Larden under the direction of Stanley Morison, at Monotype. The words celebrate Pessoa’s metaphysical nomadism, affirming the power of inner life. The use of humble nails is no coincidence: they bear the dreams of all those who have left their homes in search of a better life.