interval/ videoinstallation
contemplative dimension, historical heritage, precipitous space, natural light, duration, unstable structure, iron spiral staircase, lawyer, metal railing, negotiation space, psychologist, steel cable, iron bracket, wood, rope, fire officer, articulating agent, counterweight, brick, city, air traffic, helicopter, sound system, flat screen monitor, wooden panel, invitation, activating agent
Octógono Project
Pinacoteca do Estado/
São Paulo
the work was conceived to occupy the central part of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo building [Projeto Octógono], in addition to continuing research on the correspondences existing between the processes of the constitution of spaces, and the way in which, even involuntarily, we activate the context around us, or contribute to the maintenance of its contents. the intention was to install an unstable ‘body’ in the interior of the stable structure of the museum and propose an environment whose experience could refer us to something pending, a temporary impediment, or a moment of doubt or uncertainty.
articulated in two parts, displaced in relation to the centre of the space, the installation invoked a kind of void in the most visible part of the building. it envisaged the construction of a suspension structure made of rope and wood [similar to those used in contemplative canopy climbing], and a protective iron side rail, both on the ‘second floor’ of the space, in addition to the exhibition of a looped video, mounted on a self-supported panel and presented in a pre-existing niche on the ground floor. as a result of the small spatial displacement proposed, mentioned above, the first image offered to visitors on their way to the Octógono was of a space apparently ‘empty’, or in a state of suspension.
free access to the ‘second floor’ of the Octógono [an area previously restricted to authorized Pinacoteca staff] was facilitated by a pre-existing metal spiral staircase, located on the first floor. this allowed the public to reach the suspended element [tensioned across the space at a height of 12 meters], walk along it, and consider the circumstances of their own body in relation to the ‘balanced’ museum environment.
recorded from a helicopter, the video, registers in one take a very long aerial shot of the city of São Paulo and brings the wind hitting the microphone as its sound structure. with the camera pointing to the ground, offering no horizons or perspectives, the images trace a route in a straight line in a north-south direction, connecting the Serra da Cantareira to the extreme south of the municipality, close to the border with São Vicente. navigating the complex air space of the metropolis, the flight advanced at the same altitude and speed throughout the entire trajectory – approximately 45 kilometres.
contemplação suspensa proposes a reflection on the implications related to the processes of the constitution of spaces, where an eventual action [expressed in the possible transformation of a given structure] and the concomitant inability to carry it out [suggested by the video recording of an innocuous trajectory, distanced in relation to the urban environment], are presented as key aspects for us to analise the ambiguous condition of the inhabitant of metropolises.
(translation by Lynne Reay Pereira)