Crybaby
oct-16-2017 to dec-05-2017
Woosh series
504 videos
aarea.co
When confronted with the invitation to develop a piece for an uninterrupted exhibition of 21 days – different from a “physical” exhibition, which assumes a restricted period to the audience, with fractioned opening hours –, Flora Leite proposed to think about all 504 hours of its duration, in such a way that the spectator, when entering the website, is always faced with a new version of the proposition, even if the featured video is a loop of the same image.
To cover the whole period, the work Crybaby consists of a record of four artificial fishes placed in the water curtain of an aquarium shop. The camera take goes from the inner to the outer space. It is a close-up shooting, which allows to glimpse only a few details of a street in the backdrop. The same shot was recorded by the artist day and night, and from these two variables of light, Flora applies five others to trigger the image. They are:
A – front/reverse (2 variations)
B – looping with/without effects (2 variations)
C – ambient sound/silence/music (3 variations)
D – quality of video compression: low, medium, standard (3 variations)
E – speed: 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% (7 variations)
Mathematically combined, these factors (2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 7) result in 504 variations, one for each of the hours the work will be on air. It also includes a panel right below the video, announcing the set of operating factors at each moment. With such operations that shoddily recall the post-production special effects of feature films, Flora induces variations to an aquarium’s static scenes and simulates actions, yet the paralyzed fishes denounce the whole artificial aspect of the operation.
In addition to being a pretext to make this work, the endless image of water falling over the fishes was chosen by the artist precisely for its contemplation character, built within a prosaic repertoire of what is “beautiful” and “placid” enough to be appreciated. Although the theme and title of Crybaby induce a calculated, contemplative melancholy, the whole work involved is dedicated to the task of accomplishing the 504 working hours of the piece during its exhibition at www.aarea.co. Its practical function makes it somewhat closer to a screensaver, former device showing a moving image, elaborated to prevent still images of leaving marks on the screen.
Implementation: Caio Polesi
Photography: Alexandre Wahrhaftig
The artist would like to thank Aquários do Brasil
Flora Leite (b. São Paulo, Brazil, in 1988) holds a BFA from Universidade de São Paulo. She has exhibited in institutions in São Paulo such as Centro Cultural São Paulo, Instituto de Arte Contemporânea, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Oficina Cultural Oswald de Andrade and Paço das Artes; Picadeiro Real (Museu de História Natural de Lisboa) in Lisbon, Portugal; and Caixa Cultural in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her work is featured on the public collections of Centro Cultural São Paulo and MARP – Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto. Website: http://cargocollective.com/floraleite/