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HEART LABYRINTH
Luzboa / International light festival
Curated by Mário Caeiro
Collaboration: Carlos de Abreu
Music: Petr Vysohlid (Czech republic), Dídio Pestana (Portugal)
Performance: Marcia neto Lanca (Portugal)
Support/collaboration CML, Embaixada da República Checa,
Centro Nacional de Cultura, Restaurante-Bar do Príncipe Real, Bazar do Vídeo
Lisboa, Portugal 2009
About project:
On the occasion of the second year of the light bienale LUZBOA, I created, in cooperation with Carlos de Abreu, light installation called Heart-Labyrinth. The whole project was based on the image of a heart regarded as a pulsating creative space; a few other artists were invited to take part in this project and thus become part of this labyrinth.
I chose the subject of a heart internationally, as it is for me one of the most significant symbols of Portuguese culture and identity.
The actual installation was placed in Park do Princípe Real, at the very beginning of the whole Luzboa path. It´s the heart where all the circulation begins and ends. That was the main reason why I placed Heart-Labyrinth at the beginning of the whole bienale course, which was, coincidentally, at the very centre - or heart - of Lisbon.
The basis of the installation was a sketch evoking heart beat. This light installation was created out of several hundred metres of red neon cable. The cable was attached at certain points by a thin wire in order to create circular space that was limited by a tree and its surroundings. By a composition of light lines and opposing direction of their attachment, I gradually created a comlicated labyrinth, the shape of which evoked the impression of levitating construction or architecture. At the same time, it enabled limited, slow movement within the installation.
There were originally a few street lamps, which belonged to a nearby café, around the labyrinth. I transformed these street lamps into "sound lamps" using a sound system. These newly created sound systems were afterwards joined with the direction and accent of the light sketch, and thus they became a natural part of the whole installation.
Sound record of my own heart beat was used as a basic material for musicians, who composed music for the heart-labyrinth, being ispired by the heart beat. The first composition was inspired by the heart beat and developed into a very abstract imaginative piece. The second composition regards the heart as a beat machine, it´s a mixture of diferent styles and moods, of spoken word and pulsating heart in different BPM (intervals). There is a witty juxtaposition of a heart as a machine as well as a toy, and that makes the piece a bit more serious; there is a deeper meaning which makes you think.
While creating the Heart-Labyrinth, I was inspired by the complicated composition and movement within it to make another creative aspect of this installation. It was a dance performance in which there was the aspect of intertwined body and looking for a way throught the labyrinth, which was verging on erotic expressive dance and meditative dance Buta.