Dry Eye episode 1
Jorge Menna Barreto
The podcast series Olho Seco (Dry Eye) is a sonic and sensitive journey that connects our eyes to the planet in times of climate crisis. In three episodes, artist and researcher Jorge Menna Barreto invites us to listen with our eyes closed, bringing together science, literature, and the visual arts to rethink how we see the world. From dry eye syndrome to the aridification of ecosystems, from the poetry of João Cabral de Melo Neto to the work of visual artists exploring the invisible, the series reveals how “dryness” can be a way of seeing, feeling, and responding to the socioenvironmental emergency. Between tears, rain, memories, verses, and non-retinal images, Olho Seco proposes rehydrating our perception and relearning how to see—with vision, listening, memory, and imagination—to perhaps reinvigorate our ability to respond to the current environmental crisis.
Episode 1:
What is the relationship between the globe of the eye and the globe of the Earth? And how does the climate crisis unexpectedly and intimately connect our eyes to the planet? In this first episode of Olho Seco, artist and researcher Jorge Menna Barreto delves into this surprising parallel between dry eye syndrome—a silent pandemic affecting millions of people exposed to excessive screen time, air conditioning, and the accelerated pace of modern life—and the aridification processes transforming entire ecosystems in Brazil, California, and beyond. To expand this investigation, Jorge speaks with his brother Carlos Menna Barreto, an ophthalmologist; with climatologists Ana Luiza Saraiva and Francis Lacerda; and with historian Rondinelly Medeiros, in addition to readings by the poet Sophia Faustino. Together, they bring together tears and rain, corneas and caatinga, floods and droughts, revealing how our eyes are a microcosm of the planetary crisis. This episode is an invitation to close our eyes for a moment, rehydrate them, and relearn to see—not just with sight, but also with our ears, memory, and imagination—to reconfigure our perspective on the climate emergency and ways of inhabiting the world.
Podcast audio (currently only available in Portuguese) can be accessed here: [Link 1º episódio]
Transcripts in English and Portuguese can be accessed here: [Links PDFs Episódio 1]
Credits
Olho seco is a creation of Jorge Menna Barreto with support from Mesa Institute. The project received a Seed Grant from the Office of Research at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the United States.
Coordination is by Karina Sérgio Gomes.
Sophia Faustino is our research assistant.
Karina, Sophia and Jorge wrote the script for this episode.
The soundscape, sound mixing and editing are by Bruno Bonaventure for Sound Design.
The graphic design is by Joe Buggilla.
Factchecking by Gabriela Erbetta.
Translation is by Jessica Gogan
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Jorge Menna Barreto‘s practice explores site-specificity as a constantly evolving relationship between art, ecology, and language. His work stems from a deep listening of materials, stories, and landscapes, fostering collaborations with diverse knowledge and communities. Jorge is a professor in the art department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he teaches the master’s program in environmental art and social practice. He is a collaborator in the graduate arts program at UERJ. For more information: @jmennabarreto and https://jorggemennabarreto.com/
Karina Sérgio Gomes is a journalist with a master’s degree in Visual Arts and a PhD in Art and Education from the Institute of Arts at Unesp. She has worked as curator at Atelier 397, MAM-SP, and CCSP. As a journalist, she has collaborated with publications such as Rádio Novelo Apresenta, Folha de S.Paulo, Metrópoles, and Estadão. In 2025, she won the IAC Research Training Grant. She currently writes art reviews for the website NeoFeed and researches Brazilian art for the Itaú Cultural Encyclopedia.
Sophia Faustino is a poet, professor and researcher. She received her undergraduate degree in literature (FFLCH) and masters in art history (PGEHA) from the University of São Paulo. She is the author of Alavenca Esfinge (2019) and Nunca me esqueço que venho dos trópicos (2022). She is part of the feminist interventionist arts collective Vozes Agudas and the study group Gênero, Arte, Artefatos e Imagens (GAAI-USP). She currently works as a curatorial assistant and researcher for cultural projects.
