Biography

Cao Guimarães‘ photo and video work takes a personal look at the details that characterise the spirit of a place. He is interested in the life of objects beyond their primary function and explores how our imperfect environment is a source of inspiration and imagination. Cao Guimarães is interested in the unforeseen fate of the things that surround us, such as the confetti of a carnival or the unknown path of a floating soap bubble. The counter-uses and unusual associations of photographed objects are the traces of a passage and the proof of a sensitive and poetic occupation of a context. The artist, born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where he lives and works, has exhibited at the Instituto Itaú Cultural in Brazil and at the Anita Beckers Gallery in Germany, and has presented his films at the international film festivals of Berlin, Sundance and Cannes.

Rivane Neuenschwander was born in Belo Horizonte and lives and works in São Paulo, Brazil. She is known for her work that explores language, nature, geography, the passage of time and social interactions. Her works are sometimes interactive, involving viewers in spontaneous and participatory actions. In her installations, films and photographs, Rivane Neuenschwander uses fragile and unpretentious materials to create aesthetic experiences, a process she describes as “”ethereal materialism””. She has participated in the Carnegie International in 2008, the Istanbul Biennial in 1997, the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1998, 2006 and 2008. In 2013, she was awarded the 6th Yang Hyun Prize in Korea. In 2021, a major solo exhibition opened at the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein and First Love, a work in the form of digital billboards, was exhibited in Belo Horizonte. New works on paper by the artist were presented at the Stephen Friedman Gallery in London in 2022.

Quarta-feira de Cinzas – Epilogue (2006)

The video features a close-up view at ground level of ants carrying colourful and reflective confetti across the uneven ground of the Brazilian rainforest. The film’s soundtrack mixes ambient sounds such as bird calls with the clatter of burning matches and the samba music of Brazilian carnivals. The artists’ close look at the ant-confetti relationship reveals the backstage of a festival constituted and defined by a multitude of micro-events and unofficial moments that are more rarely documented. The project takes a sensitive, environmental and poetic view of the existence and correlation of objects, materials and multiple life forms in an anthropocene world. In our contemporary society, which isolates (consumer) objects, often concealing their process of elaboration, trajectory and finality, they make us aware of the unpredictable course of things and the complex interactions between nature and humans, the artificial and the organic, as well as of chance and control.

Directors: Cao Guimarães and Rivane Neuenschwander
Images: Cao Guimarães
Directors of photography: Cao Guimarães and Rivane Neuenschwander 
Editing: Cao Guimarães and Rivane Neuenschwander
Original soundtrack: O Grivo
Sound editing: Alexandre Martins (REC Studio)