Perceptible 7
Metal, fabric, light bulbs and movement sensors
610 x 244 x 244 cm (approx.)
20 x 8 x 8 ft (approx.)
Rio de Janeiro, 2007
This site-specific installation creates an environment that responds and unfolds according to the spectator’s position in space. And it’s the first in the Perceptible series to use sensors connected to the lamps in order to make the work be altered not by someone’s action and manipulation of an element of the work, like in Perceptible 1, but just by there mere presence. The use of the sensors and the way they are positioned are both strategies to frame the spectator’s point of view, to create a sense of perspective, of a perception that is only possible from a certain point in space, and for some time, before it changes again; since the sensor only remain active for a short period of time.
In that way we can go back to Merleau-Ponty’s formulations about phenomena and what are the problems involved in its apprehension, and illustrate it with the question posed by him in the book “Phénomenologie de la perception”: “How could I gain experience of the world, as I would of an individual actuating his own existence, since none of the views or perceptions I have of it can exhaust it and the horizons remain forever open?” That was the purpose and aim of this work to create the experience of and horizon that is forever open. Perceptible 7 was shown at Parque Lage’s School of Visual Arts in July of 2004.
Metal, fabric, light bulbs and movement sensors
610 x 244 x 244 cm (approx.)
20 x 8 x 8 ft (approx.)
Rio de Janeiro, 2007
This site-specific installation creates an environment that responds and unfolds according to the spectator’s position in space. And it’s the first in the Perceptible series to use sensors connected to the lamps in order to make the work be altered not by someone’s action and manipulation of an element of the work, like in Perceptible 1, but just by there mere presence. The use of the sensors and the way they are positioned are both strategies to frame the spectator’s point of view, to create a sense of perspective, of a perception that is only possible from a certain point in space, and for some time, before it changes again; since the sensor only remain active for a short period of time.
In that way we can go back to Merleau-Ponty’s formulations about phenomena and what are the problems involved in its apprehension, and illustrate it with the question posed by him in the book “Phénomenologie de la perception”: “How could I gain experience of the world, as I would of an individual actuating his own existence, since none of the views or perceptions I have of it can exhaust it and the horizons remain forever open?” That was the purpose and aim of this work to create the experience of and horizon that is forever open. Perceptible 7 was shown at Parque Lage’s School of Visual Arts in July of 2004.
Created over the course of 10 years (between 2002 and 2011), the Perceptible series followed and reflected significant changes in Gustavo Prado’s work, particularly regarding the viewer’s perception and the relationship between the artwork and space. Perceptible Sundial (2002) is the first work in the series and is presented as a cube (considered one of the simplest forms for human recognition), made with a wooden structure and covered with fabric and paper. Its relatively simple form becomes complex in its interaction with space (and time). Aspects such as the place where it is positioned, and the natural light that shines upon it (which changes throughout the day and from one day to the next), influence characteristics such as viewing angles, transparency, opacity, and shadows, making the perception of this work broad, varied, and almost unpredictable. It functions as a constant exercise in the viewer’s perception and the possibility of presence within space.
The following works in the series increasingly emphasize the installation dimension, expanding their scale in built environments with colored fluorescent lamps, fabrics, metal structures, presence sensors, and monitors. These are environments in which viewers are invited to be present, where external interferences are suspended, giving way to conditions of experimentation created and controlled by the artist, such as the use of color and the intensity of lighting, which directly affect the perception of space. Perceptible 8 (2005), for example, reproduces the form of Perceptible Sundial on an enlarged scale and, instead of relying on the sun, uses a set of lamps connected to the structure of the environment and presence sensors to shape the lighting of the space.
In the final works of the Perceptible series, the artist and the viewer engage with everyday space, outside the control and predictability of institutional spaces. This is the case with works like Perceptible Heraclitus River (2006). In this piece, a geometric structure was installed in different locations along a river in the city of Itaipava (a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro). Over the course of 30 days, these situations were documented in photographs and videos, later edited into images that construct different perceptions from the presence of this object in a natural setting.
As a whole, the works in the Perceptible series draw attention to reality understood as a construction, always in progress—open, in process, and shaped by individual, political, social, and economic variables.
The following works in the series increasingly emphasize the installation dimension, expanding their scale in built environments with colored fluorescent lamps, fabrics, metal structures, presence sensors, and monitors. These are environments in which viewers are invited to be present, where external interferences are suspended, giving way to conditions of experimentation created and controlled by the artist, such as the use of color and the intensity of lighting, which directly affect the perception of space. Perceptible 8 (2005), for example, reproduces the form of Perceptible Sundial on an enlarged scale and, instead of relying on the sun, uses a set of lamps connected to the structure of the environment and presence sensors to shape the lighting of the space.
In the final works of the Perceptible series, the artist and the viewer engage with everyday space, outside the control and predictability of institutional spaces. This is the case with works like Perceptible Heraclitus River (2006). In this piece, a geometric structure was installed in different locations along a river in the city of Itaipava (a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro). Over the course of 30 days, these situations were documented in photographs and videos, later edited into images that construct different perceptions from the presence of this object in a natural setting.
As a whole, the works in the Perceptible series draw attention to reality understood as a construction, always in progress—open, in process, and shaped by individual, political, social, and economic variables.
