This week I discuss two immersive art exhibitions on view in São Paulo. I begin with A Biblioteca à Noite, a virtual reality installation at Sesc Paulista that takes visitors to ten great libraries.
The result of a partnership between Canada-based Argentine writer Alberto Manguel and multimedia artist Robert Lepage, the installation takes its name from one of Manguel’s books (A Biblioteca à Noite), in which he addresses the place of books and reading in our culture through a journey across libraries, from antiquity to the Internet.
Visitors wear headsets to navigate 3D images, while the setting places us in a reading room.
Through Robert Lepage’s impeccable art direction, we are placed within the architectural space of each of these libraries. As we navigate, we discover their histories and details, guided by an audio narration by Manguel himself.
Between fiction and resistance
The ones I most enjoyed “visiting” were the library in Mexico and the Nautilus library. The Mexican one is Biblioteca Vasconcelos, which has a feature very similar to that of CCSP. Its many glass doors are used as mirrors by groups of dancers practicing outside. The Nautilus library is fictional: it belongs to Captain Nemo, a character in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. Its space is recreated from the drawings in the first edition of Jules Verne’s work. It is a magical moment.
No less magical is the visit to the Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Built in the nineteenth century, it was completely destroyed in 1992. At the time, a musician played the cello in its ruins every day, seeking to resist the destruction. In VR, we watch him play, but within the building restored in 2014.
Nonotak
On the other side of the avenue, at Japan House, there is more immersive art! The exhibition Dimensão by the duo NONOTAK, presents three installations. Magnitude, a sensory installation with LED bars, provides visual immersion; Daydream V.5 Infinite, made with laser projection, mirrors, and sound, creates a physical connection between real and virtual space; and my favorite, Zero Point Two, made with laser fiber optics, in which rays of light draw a wonderful film without film….
The exhibition is curated by Antonio Curti, who already has considerable experience in electronic music but makes his visual arts debut here. A very successful debut… And I cannot fail to mention the homegrown talent of whom I am very proud. NONOTAK features exhibition design by Felipe Sztutman and programming by Wesley Lee, former students of the Design program at FAUUSP, where I teach. They nailed it.
Transcript of Giselle Beiguelman’s Ouvir Imagens column, broadcast every Monday at 8 a.m. on Rádio USP (93.7).
Access the playlist with all audio recordings of the Ouvir Imagens column on Rádio USP | Read all transcripts and posts.