Page 120 - ARTE!Brasileiros #37

ART VERSUS IGNORANCE ENGLISH VERSION

Biennial. In the past three years the total number of visitors SÃO PAULO BIENNIAL RACHEL ROSE | PAGES 36 TO 38
ranged between 470 and 535,000 people in three months.
first time does not have turnstiles or metal detectors - has FRAGMENTS AND
Giving easy access into the exhibition space - which for the
One of the works that has most attracted the public - although, JUXTAPOSITIONS
certainly contributed to increase the number of attendees.
because of its location outside the Biennial, has not received
credits for doing so - is the skate park (or “skatable” sculpture) MAGNETIZE RACHEL
designed by South Korean artist Koo Jeong-A, which has
attracted hundreds of visitors on a daily basis. “What’s crazy ROSE'S VIDEOS
about it is that this is not really a skate park, it’s a work of art”,
says professional skateboarder Felipe Foguinho while standing
next to the work. He notes that the installation of a skate park A MINUTE AGO AND EVERYTHING AND MORE MERGE ORIGINAL WORKS
at the Ibirapuera Park has been on the agenda for quite a while. BY OTHER AUTHORS TO PRODUCE MOVING AND CREATIVE ART WORKS
“It took some Korean artist to come here from the other side
of the world to show that skateboarding has its importance. BY LEONOR AMARANTE
No one wanted to see that. And this is such a huge step for us,
to show that skateboarding can bring people together, it can DO COMPUTERS REPLACE THE IMAGINARY as a field
make a place much more friendly and alive. There is never a of investigation? Rachel Rose, artist creator of the video
moment when people are not attending this place” installation A Minute Ago, one of the most outstanding works
The fact is, while established as a space for experiments - on display at the 32 São Paulo Biennial, discusses art as a field
nd
with the skate park, the garden, the wooden tables, works of interaction between man and technology. The US-based artist
assembled with fungi and other art works - many of which were creates fragmented visual narratives from original footage.
nd
created by young artists exclusively for this edition - the 32 Her videos merge fast and continuously moving images that
Biennial is fuelling debates about the meaning of art, quality resemble the mode of perception of contemporary man.
of the works, the political role of the exhibit and a supposed A Minute Ago is an authentic example of composition in
hermeticism in contemporary art. Somehow, the conversation postproduction (works created with assembled materials to
between those two kids standing in front of José Bento’s which she adds visual, sound or special effects). Rachel uses
work - made of matchboxes and retractable tables - is not so a footage pulled from YouTube that shows the reaction of
far off the themes that are being debated by art critics. Some some beachgoers who are unexpectedly caught in a hailstorm.
say that the Biennial has hit the target when it brings forth Another fragment used by Rachel is the iconic Glass House built
the most urgent contemporary issues and radicalizes the in 1949 by American architect Phillip Johnson whose concept
concept of experimentation. Others say that good intentions was inspired in the Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies van de
are not enough in art; there are also those who argue that Rohe. Rachel shows a holographic image of Johnson standing
powerful art works are on display at the Ibirapuera Pavilion, within a “glass box” measuring the space with his own body.
while others say that the number of meaningful works of art His glass house was clearly inspired in Rohe’s projects and
at the Biennial, created by skillful artists can be counted on became an icon of architectural modernity. Phillips’ house
the fingers of one hand. reigns supreme like an “aquarium” set in a natural green
The discussions around the meaning of contemporary art - landscape. There are no concrete walls - only the privacy of the
which have been going for a while and don’t seem to have an bathroom has been preserved. There is little furniture and one
end - seems to be finally expanding to wider audiences. The painting - Burial of Phocion by Nicolas Poussin, 1648 - depicts
crowded pavilion at Ibirapuera seems to make that crystal a landscape whose topography is identical to the topography
clear. “It’s hard to understand it, but I like it,” says Luísa Gili, of the land chosen by architect Phillip Johnson.
14, student at Escola da Vila, about the experimental works Rachel works with translucent layers, mixing fragments of
of art and unusual media they are displayed on. “I think that a photographs, video and film that are juxtaposed as authentic
portrait, for example, is simpler. If an artist painted kings, for “brushstrokes”. Since the 1990s, contemporary art has
example, you can see the portrait and know what it means. If interpreted, revisited, reinvented or used available cultural
it is a different kind of work of art, you have to stop and think products and works created by other artists. Contemporary
about that the artist is trying to say. So it’s not that we get artists as Gerhard Richard, Pollock and Baselitz confessed that
more information, it’s that they are different things, you can’t when they were doing sculpture, installation or performance,
compare”, she says. Her friend, Helena Veliago Costa adds: “We they still felt like painters. Rachel Rose feels the same. A painter
saw a work and Luísa thought that it was a critique to today’s by training, in A Minute Ago, she is somehow still holding her
consumerism. While for me the work was about adolescence. palette. Successive layers of transparent images, holography,
And I think there’s no right and wrong, these are our points YouTube footage and photos of the Glass House are interfaces
of view. Art cannot give you certainties, right? It is a way of between video and painting. Rachel catalyses the creation of
expression”. When asked if they are leaving the Biennial with new works by drawing connections between their components,
more questions than answers, both nod yes, and say this is a using colors as activating agents. For minimalist Donald Judd,
good thing. Especially in this edition entitled Live Uncertainty. the concomitant use of two colours brings one of the colors
forth. As in some kind of “color game”, the other color is
1 | EDUCATOR AT THE BIENNIAL AND A GROUP OF STUDENTS WALK OVER THE instantly toned down. For him, this was the “unbearable” game
INSTALLATION CHÃO, BY BAHIAN ARTIST JOSÉ BENTO of spatial illusion. Rachel seeks that effect and proves that
Judd’s thesis, published in his book entitled Specific Objects,
2 | ABOVE, SKATEBOARDER ROLLS OVER THE INSTALLATION ARROGATION, BY 1965, was correct.
SOUTH KOREAN ARTIST KOO JEONG-A. ON THE NEXT PAGE, VISITORS OBSERVE THE As advocated by Nicolas Bourriaud, originality and creation
INSTALLATION CLOSE-UP, BY ZAMBIAN ARTIST ANAWANA HALOBA are fragile concepts. In this new hybrid cultural landscape, the

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