This is not love song is a tentative reflection on the social, philosophical and political ruin of current values and conventions. Any idyllic or idealistic analysis of contemporary reality, seemed impossible to us. It is an appropriate moment to try to restore the subject matter of Critical Space, as defined by Virilio. Even in times of apparent peace, we arm ourselves as critics. The works proposed were developed from the questioning and examining of our life-styles and also by exercising viable alternatives.
We occupied number 362 of Rua Minas Gerais to activate the space in an installation-like manner. In this way, through the coexistence of the works and the efforts of the participants, we tried to construct a fluid environment. At the same time, a sense of the unpredictable were all encompassing. We occupied the space of a common house to supply material for a collective reception, creating a field for action, discussion, production and reflection.
The making of the exhibition materialized through weekly meetings. Projects and artistic strategies and how these apply to our daily lives were discussed. From this process, we tried to develop a conceptual vocabulary to improve the dialogue between the participants and their works. We also aimed at developing new partnerships. The “experimental exercise of freedom”, as evoked by the brazilian art critic Mário Pedrosa (1900-1981) – a synthesis of the Brazilian postwar art – does not consist only of the creation of a work of art itself, but of the initiative to assume the experiment.
In the context of a disturbed space and time frame, we tried to explore the urgency of consciousness as representation beyond the field of mere production of images. We also explored the perceptible and critical possibilities of the dialogues that surround us.
Julia Rodrigues
October 2006
This is not love song is a tentative reflection on the social, philosophical and political ruin of current values and conventions. Any idyllic or idealistic analysis of contemporary reality, seemed impossible to us. It is an appropriate moment to try to restore the subject matter of Critical Space, as defined by Virilio. Even in times of apparent peace, we arm ourselves as critics. The works proposed were developed from the questioning and examining of our life-styles and also by exercising viable alternatives.
We occupied number 362 of Rua Minas Gerais to activate the space in an installation-like manner. In this way, through the coexistence of the works and the efforts of the participants, we tried to construct a fluid environment. At the same time, a sense of the unpredictable were all encompassing. We occupied the space of a common house to supply material for a collective reception, creating a field for action, discussion, production and reflection.
The making of the exhibition materialized through weekly meetings. Projects and artistic strategies and how these apply to our daily lives were discussed. From this process, we tried to develop a conceptual vocabulary to improve the dialogue between the participants and their works. We also aimed at developing new partnerships. The “experimental exercise of freedom”, as evoked by the brazilian art critic Mário Pedrosa (1900-1981) – a synthesis of the Brazilian postwar art – does not consist only of the creation of a work of art itself, but of the initiative to assume the experiment.
In the context of a disturbed space and time frame, we tried to explore the urgency of consciousness as representation beyond the field of mere production of images. We also explored the perceptible and critical possibilities of the dialogues that surround us.
Julia Rodrigues
October 2006