At Vermelho’s façade we see the Ocitarcomed [Citarcomed] installation (2016), a mirrored spelling of the word democrático [democratic], using protective clamps for exterior walls to build every letter. The typeface alludes to the calligraphy employed by graffiti street artists and, as such, also work as a kind of challenging cypher. Marcelo Cidade is commenting on the current state of Brazilian democracy as something deformed and indefinite.

In Confortável Conformismo [Comfortable conformism], Cidade works with instructions that must be followed by the organizer, curator, producer or anyone involved with the exhibition that the artwork will be a part of. In seven steps, the artist describes a process in which an abandoned spring mattress must be found in the city’s streets and then burned, with its skeleton placed forming a 90-degree angle with the wall. The presentation mentions the work Untitled (Double Amber Bed), from 1991, by Rachel Whiteread, in which the artist intended to comment of the situation of London street-dwellers from the early 1990, bringing inside the gallery an object from daily street-dwelling life.
By dissociating himself from the artwork’s production processes (beyond conception), Cidade is making room for chance to take over.

The instructions are:

1) the production of this work of art does not depend on the artist, and may be executed by the curator, producer or any other party involved or otherwise with organizing the exhibition that the work will be a part of.

2) the mattress used in the work must have springs and a metal frame.

3) the mattress must be found in the street of the city hosting the exhibition, and therefore must not be bought.

4) as this object is to be found, the final work has no fixed form.

5) the burning stage may be performed as safely as possible. It is suggested to be done outdoors, using alcohol or gasoline.

6) after burning, the physical iron frame and the springs should be showing

7) after cooling down, the structure is to be transported to the exhibition space and placed, folded, forming a 90-degree angle with the floor and the wall.

The instructions are:

1) the production of this work of art does not depend on the artist, and may be executed by the curator, producer or any other party involved or otherwise with organizing the exhibition that the work will be a part of.

2) the mattress used in the work must have springs and a metal frame.

3) the mattress must be found in the street of the city hosting the exhibition, and therefore must not be bought.

4) as this object is to be found, the final work has no fixed form.

5) the burning stage may be performed as safely as possible. It is suggested to be done outdoors, using alcohol or gasoline.

6) after burning, the physical iron frame and the springs should be showing

7) after cooling down, the structure is to be transported to the exhibition space and placed, folded, forming a 90-degree angle with the floor and the wall.

In the series “(Un) Monument for V.Tatlin” Marcelo Cidade recreates the Monuments that Dan Flavin made in homage to Vladimir Tatlin, using overlapping fixtures structures for fluorescent lamps. While Flavin uses lamps to argue the impermanence of the materials and thus, of the systems, Cidade works around the ruin. In the recreations of Marcelo Cidade, there is no longer room for impermanence; there is only the useless waste of a utopian plan.

digital print pasted on the wall and hand-painted fabric banner

Cidade has used traditional Brazilian voting booths to create the work that lends its name to the exhibition. Built from cut and folded shapes of cardboard sheets, imitating the official voting booths, Cidade’s booth is covered in concrete, forming a kind of “bunker” where the voter may privately make his choice. The work shows the democratic gesture of choosing the candidate that better represents one’s values has become an experience lacking protection and safety.

In the Corpo mole [Lazy body] series, Cidade envelops cardboard boxes with materials commonly found in buildings – concrete –, thus highlighting the apparatus’ permanence as something that is elusive to the public power and useful to those depending on it. Cardboard has been at the forefront of recent news on the city of São Paulo and the social hygiene process unleashed by the state and local governments on its streets. In a series of recent police operations, under the watchful eye of the above-mentioned authorities, street-dwellers have been forbidden to accumulate cardboard and had the material confiscated.

In the A___________ social series, from 2015, Marcelo Cidade presents images gathered from the Internet showing household break-in attempts. In the images, haphazard burglars are seen stuck in bits of architecture such as windows, chimneys and fences. Along every serigraphed image, Cidade adds aphorisms from the Arquitectura social, três olhares críticos [Social architecture: three critical perspectives] paper, by Luís Santiago Baptista, Joaquim Moreno and Fredy Massad, in which the authors relate essential aspects of relationships and the implications of social architecture in a world fraught with crisis and conflict. Finally, Cidade removes the term “Arquitetura Social” from each axiom, replacing it with a continuous underline, as if waiting for the observer to fill in the gap.

In the Corpo mole [Lazy body] series, Cidade envelops cardboard boxes with materials commonly found in buildings – concrete –, thus highlighting the apparatus’ permanence as something that is elusive to the public power and useful to those depending on it. Cardboard has been at the forefront of recent news on the city of São Paulo and the social hygiene process unleashed by the state and local governments on its streets. In a series of recent police operations, under the watchful eye of the above-mentioned authorities, street-dwellers have been forbidden to accumulate cardboard and had the material confiscated.

In the Corpo mole [Lazy body] series, Cidade envelops cardboard boxes with materials commonly found in buildings – concrete –, thus highlighting the apparatus’ permanence as something that is elusive to the public power and useful to those depending on it. Cardboard has been at the forefront of recent news on the city of São Paulo and the social hygiene process unleashed by the state and local governments on its streets. In a series of recent police operations, under the watchful eye of the above-mentioned authorities, street-dwellers have been forbidden to accumulate cardboard and had the material confiscated.

In the A___________ social series, from 2015, Marcelo Cidade presents images gathered from the Internet showing household break-in attempts. In the images, haphazard burglars are seen stuck in bits of architecture such as windows, chimneys and fences. Along every serigraphed image, Cidade adds aphorisms from the Arquitectura social, três olhares críticos [Social architecture: three critical perspectives] paper, by Luís Santiago Baptista, Joaquim Moreno and Fredy Massad, in which the authors relate essential aspects of relationships and the implications of social architecture in a world fraught with crisis and conflict. Finally, Cidade removes the term “Arquitetura Social” from each axiom, replacing it with a continuous underline, as if waiting for the observer to fill in the gap.

In the Corpo mole [Lazy body] series, Cidade envelops cardboard boxes with materials commonly found in buildings – concrete –, thus highlighting the apparatus’ permanence as something that is elusive to the public power and useful to those depending on it. Cardboard has been at the forefront of recent news on the city of São Paulo and the social hygiene process unleashed by the state and local governments on its streets. In a series of recent police operations, under the watchful eye of the above-mentioned authorities, street-dwellers have been forbidden to accumulate cardboard and had the material confiscated.

[:pt]Na série A___________ social, de 2015, Marcelo Cidade apresenta imagens colecionadas a partir da internet em que figuram tentativas de invasão a domicílios. Nas imagens, salteadores inábeis aparecem presos em elementos arquitetônicos como janelas, chaminés e grades. Junto a cada imagem reproduzida em serigrafia, Cidade acrescenta aforismos retirados do texto Arquitectura social, três olhares críticos, de Luís Santiago Baptista, Joaquim Moreno e Fredy Massad, aonde os autores articulam aspectos essenciais das relações e implicações da arquitetura social num mundo em crise e conflito. Cidade, finalmente, retira o termo “Arquitetura Social” de cada axioma, deixando em seu lugar uma linha, como que a ser preenchida pelo observador.[:en]In the A___________ social series, from 2015, Marcelo Cidade presents images gathered from the Internet showing household break-in attempts. In the images, haphazard burglars are seen stuck in bits of architecture such as windows, chimneys and fences. Along every serigraphed image, Cidade adds aphorisms from the Arquitectura social, três olhares críticos [Social architecture: three critical perspectives] paper, by Luís Santiago Baptista, Joaquim Moreno and Fredy Massad, in which the authors relate essential aspects of relationships and the implications of social architecture in a world fraught with crisis and conflict. Finally, Cidade removes the term “Arquitetura Social” from each axiom, replacing it with a continuous underline, as if waiting for the observer to fill in the gap.[:]