Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
3
2009
Governador / Governor
José Serra
Diretor-Presidente/ Director-President
Hubert Alquéres
4
Índice/ Index 2009
Stephen Rimmer
Vitoria Daniela Bousso
Bronac Ferran
Gisela Domschke
Annette Wolfsberger
Marcus Bastos
Koert van Mensvoort
Katherine Bash & Sposati
Paulo Lara
Esther Polak
Karla Brunet
Rachel Jacobs
Wapke Feenstra
Tapio Makela
Jane Prophet
Conditional Design (Luna e Edo)
Heather Cocoran & Mike Stubbs
Estudio Movel Experimental (Ivan Henriques e SIlvia)
Alexandre Freire
Flavia Vivacqua
Claudio Rivera
Marcelo Rezende (A Temperatura das Coisas)
Rob Le Frenais
Rejane Spitz
Cicero Silva
Proboscis
Rombout Frieling
Felipe Fonseca
5
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2009 Karla Brunet & Juan Freire
cessos artísticos podem abarcar aspectos pode-se obter uma noção mais ampla e
políticos e sociais. contemporânea de espaço, como propôs o
geógrafo brasileiro Milton Santos (1988):
Nesse sentido, seguimos as propostas de
alguns autores que observaram a diferença O espaço seria um conjunto de objetos e de
entre lugar e espaço. Em 1977, o geógrafo relações que se realizam sobre esses obje-
sino-americano Yi-fu Tuan, em seu livro Es- tos; não entre esses especificamente, mas
paço e lugar: a perspectiva da experiência, para as quais eles servem de intermediários.
propõe a noção de lugar e espaço como Os objetos ajudam a concretizar uma série
inter-relacionadas. O espaço pode ser en- de relações. O espaço é o resultado da ação
tendido como a camada inferior composta dos homens sobre o próprio espaço, inter-
principalmente de elementos ambientais e mediados pelos objetos naturais e artificiais.
topográficos. O lugar se constrói por novas (Santos, 1988, p.25)
camadas sociais e culturais desenvolvidas
sobre o espaço, e dependentes em certa Em 1996, Milton Santos (2006) escreveu A
medida das características do espaço. Para Natureza do Espaço (The Nature of Space),
Tuan (2001, p.66), o “espaço se torna o lugar em que apresentou a tecnologia e o objeto
à medida que o conhecemos melhor e o técnico como parte da construção desse
dotamos de valor”. O espaço é abstrato e, espaço e sua história. Para o autor (1995),
quando vivenciado em vários âmbitos (pes- a tecnologia é completamente inter-relacio-
soal, social, cultural e físico), torna-se o lugar. nada com o social e sua interferência sobre
território, espaço e lugar. “Nada é puramente
Steve Harrison e Paul Dourish (1996) conti- social, mas é também igualmente técnico.
nuam a desenvolver a ideia de lugares como Resumindo, tudo é híbrido, é misto” (Santos,
espaços expandidos por significados e usos 1995). Essa inter-relação entre tecnologia
humanos: e espaço é muito vista em obras baseadas
em locação. Os artistas usam a tecnologia
Fisicamente, um lugar é um espaço inves- para construir novos espaços ou para com-
tido de entendimentos do que é apropriado preender os existentes.
em termos de comportamento, expectativas
culturais, etc. Estamos localizados no “espa- Também é importante ressaltar as noções
ço”, mas agimos no “lugar”. Além disso, os de Henri Lefebvre sobre um espaço social e
“lugares” são espaços valorizados. A distin- a produção de relações espaciais. Em The
ção se assemelha àquela entre “casa” e “lar”. production of space, Lefebvre (1991) propõe
Uma casa protege contra o frio e a chuva, uma tríade para explicar como o espaço se
mas um lar é onde vivemos. produz:
Entretanto, a ideia de espaço como fonte 1. Prática espacial abarca a produção e a re-
básica do lugar deve ser ampliada para le- produção, e os conjuntos particulares de lo-
var em consideração que o espaço também cação e espaço de cada formação social. A
é modificado por elementos humanos asso- prática espacial garante a continuidade e al-
ciados ao conceito de lugar. Desse modo, gum grau de coesão. Em termos de espaço
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corpo, comunidade e meio ambiente” (http:// nizadores e curadores. Essa situação levanta
socialtapestries.net/snout/). No projeto, per- inúmeras questões sobre como a locação
sonagens com fantasias de carnaval usando é trabalhada. As locações de festivais são
sensores para monitoração ambiental, sobre- adequadas para obras de arte realizadas em
tudo a poluição, dão a volta na cidade co- outros locais?
letando dados apresentados em mapas que
questionam a qualidade ambiental do habitat Os festivais de fato criam uma nova forma
urbano e estimulam a comunidade à partici- de trabalhar com a locação: a locação im-
pação. O desfile de carnaval nas ruas é um posta. Nas novas locações propostas pelos
exemplo da “Interrupção” proposta por Kast- festivais, os artistas muitas vezes não têm
ner e Wallis, enquanto o mapa final poderia suficiente conhecimento da cultura local, so-
ser “Imaginando”. bretudo do idioma. Quando trabalham com a
comunidade da locação, pode haver proble-
O compromisso com a comunidade pode ser mas de comunicação, de informação e mal-
visto em muitas obras da Proboscis. Giles entendidos. Para amenizar esses problemas,
Lane comentou5 que, ao construir mapas em os artistas de modo geral trabalham em co-
Urban Tapestries6, eles aprenderam com a laboração com artistas ou produtores locais.
comunidade qual tipo de tecnologia melhor
lhes servia. A primeira versão do projeto usa- De todo modo, a locação imposta traz alguns
va alta tecnologia que, em dado momento, desafios ao artista, que deveria fazer um es-
não era confortável para os participantes. As- forço adicional para aprender os aspectos
sim, a solução era voltar atrás em termos de básicos do local e adaptar sua abordagem
meios e simplificar as ferramentas, obtendo e processos. Quando esse desafio é igno-
os mesmos resultados com aparelhos mais rado, projetos baseados na locação podem
simples/fáceis. se desconectar do local e se tornarem irrele-
vantes em relação ao seu potencial impacto
3. FESTIVAIS E ARTE LOCAÇÃO social e político.
É sabido que os festivais de arte estão crian- Esther Polak, após criar seu MILKproject7
do novas formas de trabalhar com o espaço. na Europa, desenvolveu uma parte do ras-
Os organizadores de festivais muitas vezes treamento de vacas NomadicMILK8 no Mato
têm grande interesse no desenvolvimento de Grosso, Brasil. O MILKproject, a versão origi-
obras envolvendo os lugares e pessoas lo- nal europeia da prática de Polak, pode ser
cais. Com isso, buscam maior impacto social um exemplo canônico da arte envolvendo lo-
e cultural ou adaptam-se aos interesses dos cação e tecnologia e com claro impacto so-
políticos e instituições que patrocinam esses cial e político. Entretanto, NomadicMILK, um
eventos. Muitas vezes os artistas são convi- novo projeto diretamente relacionado com
dados a participar de um festival e a locação a obra europeia, é desenvolvido em novo
lhes é dada ou imposta; não há escolha do contexto, onde a cultura local, os conflitos
local onde desenvolver sua obra. Nesse sen- e interesses da comunidade e da “indústria
tido, uma parte-chave do processo artístico, de laticínio” são completamente diferentes.
a escolha da locação, fica a cargo dos orga- Nesse sentido, os resultados de interesse
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2009
social e político na Europa não são neces- corrida, os jogadores quase não interagem
sariamente relevantes. Além disso, uma loca- com os cidadãos locais, assim essa trans-
ção totalmente nova para o projeto implica posição de um local a outro não perturba.
particularidades culturais e de idioma que Eles usam a cidade como espaço físico para
podem restringir artistas de origem europeia seu projeto, não como um local com o qual
sem a compreensão e aprendizado dessas têm alguma espécie de compromisso.
peculiaridades em sua habilidade de desen-
volver a obra. Essa preocupação com a locação em pro-
jetos artísticos imposta pelos festivais não
Os problemas acima são evidentes no pro- acontece apenas com projetos que migram
jeto brasileiro devido a seu afastamento, pois de país a país. Em lugares como o Brasil,
foi realizado em uma locação “proposta” onde há grandes extensões geográficas e
(“imposta”). Não se observam um envolvi- diferenças culturais, um projeto criado para
mento com o local e uma preocupação com uma locação específica pode ter dificuldade
as particularidades das comunidades e com para funcionar do mesmo modo em outra.
a “indústria de laticínio”, como observado na Por exemplo, seria difícil recriar em Belém,
versão europeia e em outros projetos da ar- Pará, cidade da Submidialogia#4 e uma das
tista. capitais da floresta Amazônica, o projeto
Mapeando Lençóis11, realizado durante a
Entretanto, quando apenas o espaço físico Submidialogia#3, em Lençóis, Bahia. Mesmo
é relevante, as translocações podem ser re- sem a questão do idioma, as diferenças cul-
alizadas sem adaptações importantes. Um turais na região Norte, seu entendimento do
exemplo desse tipo de projeto desenvolvido local, do mapeamento e do espaço geográ-
em uma locação e mais tarde aplicado a fico, são muito diferentes de outras regiões
outra é Can you see me now9. Esse jogo, do Brasil. Um estudo cuidadoso de sua
criado pela Blast Theory, foi produzido inicial- expressão e tradição cultural é necessário
mente para ser jogado na Europa (as primei- antes de se desenvolver um projeto de ma-
ras versões ocorreram em Sheffield e Rot- peamento na região. Visto que isso é um
terdam), e em 2008 a versão foi jogada em exemplo de um projeto que demanda grande
Belo Horizonte (Brasil). Na versão brasileira, envolvimento da comunidade, a apreciação
no Arte.mov Festival10, os jogadores po- e a compreensão da cultura local se fazem
diam incluir apenas uma pequena parte da essenciais.
comunidade, aqueles que falavam inglês
fluentemente, pois a comunicação era obri- O projeto artístico The Dark Forest12, desen-
gatória durante o jogo. Para amenizar esse volvido em conjunto por MobileFest (Brasil) e
problema, os produtores do jogo escolheram o grupo inglês Active Ingredient13, explora a
alguns corredores fluentes nos dois idiomas intervenção humana nas florestas. O projeto
(português e inglês) que poderiam se comu- envolve obras paralelas com crianças em es-
nicar com a equipe da Blast Theory e com os colas dos dois países (Brasil e Inglaterra) para
jogadores brasileiros on-line. Projetos como fazer uma comparação de dados e tipos de
Can you see me now não pedem grande florestas entre a Mata Atlântica no Brasil e a
envolvimento com a comunidade. Durante a Sherwood na Inglaterra. Essa parte do proje-
2009 Karla Brunet & Juan Freire
to demonstra preocupação com a preserva- onde se vai trabalhar, incluindo seus níveis
ção das florestas no trabalho com as comu- de cultura, condições sociais, educação, re-
nidades, envolvendo-as e influenciando-as ligião… e suas interações, é importante para
em sua educação e consciência. o desenvolvimento do projeto. Qualquer obra
de arte, especialmente aquelas envolvidas
Outra parte do The Dark Forest é The BR163 com locação e lugares, inclui um significado
Expedition14, um documentário interativo re- político implícito ou explícito.
alizado com tecnologia móvel para visualizar
o impacto da construção da BR 163, uma É difícil dizer que uma obra é apolítica. De
estrada federal que ligará a cidade de Cuiabá fato, tentar declarar isso já é uma forma de
(MT), na região Centro-Oeste do Brasil, a ser político. Nesse sentido, as discussões
Santarém (PA), na região Norte, na floresta sobre a existência ou não de uma intenção
Amazônica. Esse tipo de documentação, re- ou implicação políticas não têm valor aqui.
alizada em área de conflito, demanda grande Em vez disso, deve-se prestar mais atenção
envolvimento dos artistas em pesquisar a às consequências políticas dos projetos e in-
situação, conhecer sua cultura, geografia, corporar os interesses do artista nos proces-
ecologia, condição social, história… A cons- sos. Entretanto, quando a política se torna
trução desse tipo de estrada para cruzar a parte relevante da obra de arte, os projetos
floresta Amazônica historicamente gerou de- devem incorporar uma abordagem multidis-
sacordos: desde a construção da BR 230, ciplinar e colaborativa tanto na metodologia
a Transamazônica15, até as controvérsias quanto em seus objetivos.
expostas pelo ambientalista e ativista Chico
Mendes durante a construção de parte da Um exemplo de metodologia é a geografia
BR 364 que liga Porto Velho (RO) a Rio Bran- experimental. Nos últimos anos ela tem se
co (AC)16. Nesses tipos de locações e comu- tornado um campo crescente onde a colabo-
nidades, caracterizadas por diversos interes- ração entre as disciplinas, pessoas com dife-
ses e fatores históricos, os artistas devem rentes formações e a combinação de arte,
ter consciência de seu impacto e posição ciência, tecnologia e ativismo está funciona-
política. Muitas escolhas podem aparecer ndo criticamente para criar novas compreen-
durante o processo desse tipo de projeto: o sões de espaço e novas ferramentas para
artista deve interferir? A interferência é o pa- habilitar e fortalecer as comunidades locais.
pel do artista? Como o artista trabalha com a O interesse inicial desses projetos é a prática
comunidade envolvida no conflito? É possível e a experimentação indutiva com espaços (e
para o artista manter-se apolítico durante o a criação deles), permitindo teorizar sobre o
processo? O artista deve ser político nesse sentido de locação. Nato Thompson (2008),
tipo de situação? o curador de uma exposição chamada Ex-
perimental Geography, considera esse tipo
4. ALGUMAS CONSIDERAÇÕES de obra poética, didática, geológica e urba-
na, e acima de tudo, empírica. Nas palavras
As perguntas colocadas acima são vitais para de Trevor Plagen, que criou o termo:
artistas que criam projetos baseados em lo-
cação. O entendimento completo da locação A tarefa da geografia experimental é agarrar
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2009
mudança de perspectiva. Assim, os mapas Debord, Guy, 1955. Introduction to a critique of urban geography. Les
Lèvres Nues #6, Nothingness.org. Acessado em 2008. Disponível em
passam de um produto objetivo da “ciência http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display/2.2008
cartográfica” a uma interface para represen- Harrison, Steve & Dourish, Paul, 1996. Re-place-ing space: The roles
of place and space in collaborative systems. CSCW’96. Acessado em
tar visões pessoais ou coletivas dos locais. 2008. Disponível em http://www.ics.uci.edu/~jpd/publications/2006/
Levando esse significado alternativo em con- cscw2006-space.pdf.2008
sideração, mapas e práticas de mapeamento Kastner, Jeffrey & Wallis, Brian. 2005. Land and environmental art.
Themes and movements. London; New York: Phaidon Press.
tornam-se ferramentas-chave dos artistas
Lefebvre, Henri. 1991. The production of space. Oxford: Blackwell.
que trabalham com locação. Além disso,
Mogel, Lize & Bhagat, Alexis (eds.), 2008. An atlas of radical cartogra-
novas tecnologias de mapeamento reduzem phy. Los Angeles, CA: Journal of Aesthetics & Protest Press.
as barreiras à entrada (tanto em termos de Paglen, Trevor, 2008. Experimental geography: From cultural produc-
tion to the production of space. In: Thompson, Nato (ed.). Experimental
2009 Karla Brunet & Juan Freire
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Karla Brunet & Juan Freire 2009
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2009 Karla Brunet & Juan Freire
ference from place to space. In 1977, the eles servem de intermediários. Os objetos
Chinese American geographer Yi-fu Tuan, in ajudam a concretizar uma série de relações.
his book Space and place: the perspective O espaço é o resultado da ação dos homens
of experience proposes the notion of place sobre o próprio espaço, intermediados pelos
and space as inter-related. Space could be objetos naturais e artificiais”2 (Santos, 1988,
understood as the bottom layer composed p. 25).
mostly of environmental and topographical
features. Place is constructed by new social In 1996, Milton Santos (2006) wrote A Na-
and cultural layers developed over space, tureza do Espaço (The Nature of Space),
and dependent to some extent of the charac- where he presented the technology and the
teristics of the space. For Tuan (2001, p. 66), technical object as part of the construction
“space becomes place as we get to know it of this space and its history. For the author
better and endow it with value.” The space is (1995), technology is totally inter-related to
abstract and when it is experienced in several the social and its interference on territory,
spheres (personal, social, cultural and physi- space and place. “Nothing is purely social,
cal) it becomes the place. but it is also equally technical. In short, every-
thing is hybrid, is mixed.” (Santos, 1995) This
Steve Harrison and Paul Dourish (1996) con- interrelation of technology and space is com-
tinue to develop the idea of places as spaces monly seen on location-based artwork. Art-
expanded by human meanings and uses: ists use technology to construct new spaces
or to understand the existing ones.
Physically, a place is a space which is invest-
ed with understandings of behavioural ap- It is also important to highlight Henri Lefeb-
propriateness, cultural expectations, and so vre’s notions of a social space and the pro-
forth. We are located in “space”, but we act duction of spatial relations. In The production
in “place”. Furthermore, “places” are spaces of space, Lefebvre (1991) proposes a triad to
that are valued. The distinction is rather like explain how space is produced:
that between a “house” and a “home”; a
house might keep out the wind and the rain, 1. Spatial practice, which embraces produc-
but a home is where we live. tion and reproduction, and the particular lo-
cations and spatial sets characteristic of each
However, the idea of space as a basic source social formation. Spatial practice ensures
for place should be extended to take into continuity and some degree of cohesion. In
account that also space is modified by the terms of social space, and of each member
human elements associated with the con- of a given society’s relationship to that space,
cept of place. In this way, a broader and this cohesion implies a guaranteed level of
contemporary notion of space could be ob- competence and a specific level of perfor-
tained, as the Brazilian geographer Milton mance.
Santos (1988) proposed: “O espaço seria
um conjunto de objetos e de relações que 2. Representations of space, which are tied
se realizam sobre estes objetos; não entre to the relations of production and to the ‘or-
estes especificamente, mas para as quais der’ which those relations impose, and hence
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to knowledge, to signs, to codes, and to ally develop art? Is location the main theme of
‘frontal’ relations. the artwork? Is there an interaction with the
community in the location chosen? Which is
3. Representational spaces, embodying the relevance of location (environmental con-
complex symbolisms, sometimes coded, ditions, social patterns, conflicts and cultural
sometimes not, linked to the clandestine or particularities)?
underground side of social life, as also to art
(which may come eventually to be defined In Land and Environmental Art, Jeffrey Kast-
less as a code of space than as a code of ner and Brian Wallis (2005) propose five ways
representational spaces). (Lefebvre, 1991, p. that artists work with land and environment.
33) They call them “the 5 i’s”:
According to Lefebvre’s view, art works • Integration is when the artwork uses na-
with the symbolisms of the representation ture to produce different landscapes, as cre-
of space. However, artists developing loca- ating sculptures with stones or leaving traces
tion-based projects have to be aware and of human interference. An example of that is
understand the spatial practices and repre- Amarillo Ramp by Robert Smithson;
sentations of space to be able to produce
symbolisms meaningful for a specific place. • Interruption is when the artwork uses ex-
ternal materials to produce inquietude and
Moving from the distinction of space and questioning. An example of this kind of art-
place (place constructed over space) to the work is the Running Fence by Christo and
networked space (interacting objects and Jeanne-Claude;
relations) makes the awareness of place and
space necessary. Actually, there would be not • Involvement is when the artist works in a
isolated spaces (without history and human direct relationship with the earth; usually they
intervention) differentiated from the compo- are performances of the artist juxtaposed to
nents usually associated with places. Artists the environment. As, for example, the work
working with location should not forget they by Ana Mendieta Birth that demonstrates the
are dealing with a social space, a space jux- physical contact of her body with the earth.
taposed by layers of culture, geography, so-
cial conditions, political opinion, technology, • Implementation is when the artist explores
representations and symbolisms. the natures, their ecosystem and their rela-
tions to the human being. The artworks are
2. LOCATION CHOICES generally sculptures, installations or perfor-
mances. An example of it is 7,000 Oaks by
An Open Space Session was held in Paralelo Joseph Beuys;
having some questions regarding location
and art. How do artists choose the location • Imagining is when the artwork uses the en-
for their artwork? How is location employed vironment as a metaphor, as symbols of soci-
on their projects? Is location important to ety and its influence. An example for it is The
their artwork? In which location do they usu- California Map Project by John Baldessari.
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2009 Karla Brunet & Juan Freire
This classification was thought to analyse ing perception instruments and the approach
the artwork by land and environmental art- (using spatial variations to understand con-
ists, specially the ones done in the 70’s and nections among people and ecosystems) but
80’s. Nowadays, in studying location-based expands science and art to understand the
artwork and its extensive use of technology, complexities, objective and subjective, of the
we can borrow Kastner’s and Wallis’s “i’s” and relationships between people and places in
apply their categorisation to many of the proj- the coastal space. The Ecolocated installa-
ects. However, some projects wouldn’t fit in tion could fit in the category “Imagining” pro-
any of those proposed forms, it is necessary posed by Kastner and Wallis since the aes-
to create other “i’s”. thetical experience of the artwork suggests a
metaphor for the location.
During the Paralelo event, Tapio Mäkelä pre-
sented a work in which location is the starting Another Finish artist concerned with location
point of the art project. In concept:islands3 is Timo Jokela. In his work, the artist (Coutts
researchers and media artists get together and Jokela, 2008) strengthens the notions of
in a residency program to share discus- working in a place and getting to know it and
sions, ideas, experimentations in which the feeling affection for it. His references are Yi-fu
main theme is the island and its environment. Tuan’s (1990) topophilia concept, the love for
Here, this Baltic island is part of the cultural a place, and Edward Relph’s (1976) studies
landscape of the artist, as well as a sum- on the relationship of a person and a place.
mer vacation place for Scandinavians. In his For the artist, the previous experience in a
statement, Mäkelä presented the concern given place before developing the artwork is
of the ecological degradation of the island’s very important; it is the time when he can feel
surroundings and proposed ways of working the location, its landscape, community and
with the place in a conscious manner. culture.
A more recent project by Tapio Mäkelä and The importance of the relationship with the
other artists and researchers also centered community and its landscape is also em-
on location is Ecolocated4, an installation on phasised by Giles Lane from Proboscis.5
Catalyst Arts gallery that presents the moni- Snout, a project by Proboscis, explores
toring of the sea around Belfast. Location is the “relationships between the body, com-
the main subject because the variability in the munity and the environment” (http://social-
ecology of a coastal zone around Belfast is tapestries.net/snout/). In the project, char-
used to understand the dependencies be- acters with carnival costumes and wearing
tween humans and the ecosystem, the en- sensors for environmental monitoring, es-
vironmental impacts we cause in this highly pecially pollution, go around town collect-
used space and, finally, the perception and ing data which is presented in maps that
feelings of the local population about its sur- question the environmental quality of the
rounding environment. urban habitat and instigate the community
to a participation. The carnival character
Actually, Ecolocated starts out using methods performance on the streets is an example
close to the science of ecology, both regard- of the “Interruption” proposed by Kastner
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2009
and Wallis while the final map could be problems of miscommunication, misunder-
“Imagining”. standing and misconception could arise. In
order to soften this sort of problems, artists
The commitment with the community is seen usually work in collaboration with local artists
in many of Proboscis’s work. Giles Lane or producers.
commented6 that in Urban Tapestries7, while
constructing the maps they learned with the In any case, the imposed location raises
community what kind of technology was bet- some challenges to artists that should make
ter suitable to them. The first version of the an additional effort to learn basic aspects
project used high technology that, at a given of the place and adapt their approach and
time, was not comfortable to the participants. processes. When this challenge is ignored,
Therefore, the solution was to go back in location-based projects could become dis-
terms of means and simplify the tools, hav- connected from place and probably could be
ing the same sort of results but with simpler/ irrelevant in respect to its potential social and
easier devices. political impact.
3. FESTIVALS AND ART LOCATION Esther Polak, after creating her MILKproject8
in Europe, has developed a part of Nomadic-
It is known that art festivals are creating new MILK9 cow tracking in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
forms of working with space. Festival organ- MILKproject, the original European version of
isers frequently have a great interest in the Polak’s practice, can be a canonical example
development of works involving the local of art involving location and technology and
places and people, looking for more social with a clear social and political impact. How-
and cultural impact or to adapt to the inter- ever, NomadicMILK, a new project directly
ests of the politicians and institutions funding related with the European work, is developed
these events. Frequently, artists are invited to on a new context, where local culture, com-
participate of a festival and the location is giv- munity conflicts and interests and “milk in-
en to them, or imposed; there isn’t the choice dustry” are completely different. In this sense,
of a place to develop their artwork. In this the expected results of social and political in-
sense, a key part of the artistic process, the terest in Europe are not necessarily relevant.
choice of a location, is in the charge of organ- Also, a totally new location for the project
isers and curators. This situation raises many implies cultural and language particularities
questions on how this location is worked. Are that could restrict the ability to develop the
festival locations suitable for artworks that artwork for artists of European origin without
were done in other places? an understanding and learning of these pe-
culiarities.
Festivals create de facto a new form of work-
ing with location: the imposed location. In the All the above problems are evident in the de-
new locations proposed by festivals, artists velopment of the Brazilian project due to its
many times don’t have a good knowledge of detachment because it was done in a “pro-
the culture, specially the language. And when posed” (“imposed”) location. An involvement
working with the community of that location, with the place and a concern with the particu-
117
2009 Karla Brunet & Juan Freire
larities of the communities and “milk industry” very hard to be recreated in Belém, the city of
aren’t observed, as seen in the European ver- Submidialogia#4 and one of capitals of Ama-
sion and other projects of the artist. zon Forest. Even though the language would
However, when only physical space is rel- not be a problem, the cultural differences in
evant, translocations could be made without the northern regions, their understating of
important adaptations. An example of this place, mapping, and geographical space is
kind of project developed in one location very different from other regions of Brazil. A
and later applied to other is Can you see me careful study of their cultural expression and
now10. This game, created by Blast Theory, traditions would be necessary before the de-
was initially produced to be played in Europe veloping of the mapping project there. Since
(the first versions were in Sheffield and Rot- this is an example of a project that demands
terdam), and in 2008 a version was played a great involvement of the community, the
in Belo Horizonte (Brazil). In the Brazilian ver- appreciation and understanding of the local
sion, at Arte.mov Festival11, the players could culture is essential.
include only a small part of the community,
the ones that could fluently speak English The art project The Dark Forest13 developed
since communication was mandatory dur- in conjunction by MobileFest (Brazil) and the
ing the play. In order to soften that problem, English group Active Ingredient14 explores
the game producers chose some runners man’s intervention in the forests. The project
that could be fluent in both languages (Por- involves parallel work with school children in
tuguese and English) and would be able to both countries (Brazil and England) in order
communicate with the Blast Theory team and to make a comparison of data visualisations
the Brazilian online players. Projects like Can and forest types between the Atlantic forest
you see me now don’t require much involve- in Brazil and the Sherwood in England. This
ment with the community, during the running part of the project shows its concerns with
the players hardly ever interact with the city the preservation of the forests by working
citizens, so this transposition from one place with the communities and getting them in-
to another is not so disturbing. They use the volved and influencing on their education and
city as a physical space for their project, not consciousness.
as a place where they have some sort of
commitment. Another part of The Dark Forest is the The
BR163 Expedition15, an interactive documen-
This concern with the location on art projects tary done with mobile technology in order to
imposed by festivals doesn’t happen only visualise the impact of the construction of BR
with projects that migrate from one country 163, a federal road that will link the city of
to another. In places like Brazil, where there Cuiabá, in Mato Grosso State, in the center
are large geographical extensions and cultur- region of Brazil, to Santarém, in Pará State,
al differences, a project created for a specific in the northern region of the country, in the
location could be very hard to work the same Amazon forest. Documentation as such, car-
way on another. For example, the project ried out in a conflict area, demands a lot of in-
Mapeando Lençóis12, done during Submidi- volvement from the artists in researching the
alogia#3 in Lençóis, in Bahia State, would be situation, knowing its cultural background,
118
geography, ecology, social condition, histo- political position. Many choices can rise up
ry… This type of road construction crossing during the process of these kinds of projects:
the Amazon forest has historically generated Should the artist interfere? Is the interference
many disagreements: from the construction the role of the artist? How does the artist
of the BR 230 Transamazonian16 road to the work with the community involved in the con-
controversies exposed by the environmental- flict? Is possible for the artist to remain apoliti-
ist and activist Chico Mendes during the con- cal during the process? Should the artist be
struction of the part of BR 364 that links Porto political in this kind of situation?
Velho to Rio Branco17. In these kinds of loca-
tions and communities, characterised by the 4. SOME CONSIDERATIONS
many interests and historical facts involved,
artists should be aware of their impact and The questions posed before are crucial for art-
2009 Karla Brunet & Juan Freire
ists creating projects based on location. The themselves in the spatial practices of culture.
complete understanding of the location to be To move beyond critical reflection, critique
worked on, including its layers of culture, so- alone, and political “attitudes”, into the realm
cial conditions, education, religion… and their of practice. To experience with creating new
interactions, is important to the development spaces, new ways of being. (Paglen, 2008)
of the project. Any artwork, especially those
involved with location and places, includes an Maps are key elements mediating the analy-
implicit or explicit political meaning. It is hard sis, interpretation and creation of space,
to say that a work is apolitical; in fact, trying to especially the interaction between territories
state that is already a form of being political. and people. A large part of the works of ex-
In this sense, discussions about the existence perimental geography involves some form
or not of a political intention or implications of cartography. Tactical cartographies are a
are worthless here. Instead, more attention methodology or an orientation for working
should be paid to identify the political con- with location on conflict areas proposed by
sequences of the projects and to incorporate the Institute for Applied Autonomy (2008). As
the artist’s interests in the processes. How- they explain:
ever, when politics becomes a relevant part
of the artwork, projects could incorporate a Extending these notions to spatial represen-
multidisciplinary and collaborative approach tation, then, we claim that “tactical cartogra-
both in methods and objectives. phy” refers to the creation, distribution, and
use of spatial data to intervene in systems of
An example of methodology is experimen- control affecting spatial meaning and prac-
tal geography. In the last few years it has tice. Simply put, tactical cartographies aren’t
become a growing field where collabora- just about politics and power; they are po-
tion among disciplines, people with different litical machines that work on power relations.
backgrounds, and the mix of art, science, (Mogel and Bhagat, 2008, p. 30)
technology and activism is working critically
to create new understandings of space and Experimental geography makes clear that
new tools to empower local communities. maps are personal and subjective represen-
The starting interest of these projects is the tations of spaces promoting a change in per-
practice and the inductive experimentation spective. Therefore, maps shift from an ob-
with spaces (and their creation), allowing jective product of the “cartographic science”
theorisation about the meaning of location. to an interface for representing personal or
Nato Thompson (2008), the curator of an art collective views of places. Taking into account
exhibition called Experimental Geography, this alternative meaning, maps and mapping
considers this kind of work as poetic, didac- practices become key tools of artists work-
tic, geologic and urban, and being most of all, ing with location. Besides that, new mapping
empirical. In the words of Trevor Plagen, who technologies lower the barriers to entry (both
has coined the term: in terms of cost and expertise) and are open-
ing new opportunities for collaborative work.
The task of experimental geography, then,
is to seize the opportunities that present The basic working hypothesis of experimen-
120
tal geography relates directly to the ideas Santos, Milton, 1995. The environment issue: The challenges involved
of space proposed by Milton Santos (1988) with building a interdisciplinary perspective. Interfacehs. Accessed
2009. Available from http://www.interfacehs.sp.senac.br/images/
because people and territory interact, as also artigos/21_pdf.pdf.2009
stated by Thompson (2008) and it is ground- ________, 1988. Metamorfoses do espaço habitado: Fundamentos
teóricos e metodológicos da geografia. São Paulo: Hucitec.
ed in the work of Henri Lefebvre (1991) and
Guy Debord (1955). This approach to loca- ________, 2006. A natureza do espaço: Técnica e tempo, razão e
emoção. São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo.
tion is directly significant.
Thompson, Nato (ed.), 2008. Experimental geography. New York:
Melville House; Independent Curators International.
1. http://paralelo.wikidot.com/
2. Our translation: “The space would be a set of objects and relations Tuan, Yi-fu, 2001. Space and place: The perspective of experience.
that develop over the objects; not specifically among them, but to the Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
ones they serve as intermediates. The objects help to concretise a
set of relations. The space is the result of human action on the space ________, 1990. Topophilia: A study of environmental perception, at-
itself, intermediated by natural and artificial objects.” titudes, and values. New York: Columbia University Press.
3. http://polarcircuit.info/index.php?option=com_
content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=1
4. http://marin.cc/ecolocated_littoral_lives
5. Giles Lane made a statement on that on a lecture he gave at IHAC/
UFBA-Brazil, in March 2009.
6. Giles Lane lecture at IHAC/UFBA-Brazil, in March 2009.
7. http://urbantapestries.net/
8. http://milkproject.net
9. http://www.nomadicmilk.net/
10. http://www.canyouseemenow.co.uk
11. http://www.artemov.net/
12. http://lencois.art.br/
13. http://www.thedarkforest.tv
14. http://www.i-am-ai.net/
15. http://www.thedarkforest.tv/?page_id=27
16. This is one of the most controversial roads in Brazil, where the
transit is interrupted during the rain season (October - March) and the
deforesting is an eminent problem generated by its construction.
17. Nowadays there is still debate on the effect of this road in the
Amazon forest and its inhabitants. See article “Asfaltamento do trecho
final da BR-364: a hora da verdade para a biodiversidade do Alto
Juruá.” (http://www.rafael.bio.br/ecos/index.php?option=com_co
ntent&view=article&id=49:protagonismo-do-acre&catid=32:ama
zon&Itemid=79)
References
Coutts, Glen and Timo Jokela. 2008. Art, community and environment.
Coutts, Glen and Jokela, Timo, 2008. Art, community and environ-
ment. Bristol, UK; Chicago, USA: Intellect Books.
Kastner, Jeffrey and Wallis, Brian, 2005. Land and environmental art.
Themes and movements. London; New York: Phaidon Press.
Mogel, Lize and Bhagat, Alexis (eds.), 2008. An atlas of radical cartog-
raphy. Los Angeles, CA: Journal of Aesthetics & Protest Press.
304
2009
Apoio:
2009
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