Research Rio

Highlights of the week...

2011-11-27T11:49:00.001-08:00

Round 2 of hair dying in Brazil!

Taking a walk and photos through the city on Thursday afternoon.

Printing in the studio with Edith and the PUC community

Playing with exotic birds at a churrasco!

Goiânia Adventures Continue....

2011-11-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

I am finally starting to have a steady routine and am becoming more and more active in the city. This week was full of many activities and I wanted to share a few of the highlights. I have started to go to a class at one of the other universities in the city for a weekly class that is open to the public. The students are much older than me but it nice to be surrounded by people who are interested in art and making. The women are learning art techniques such as silk screening and book making. I was invited to participate in their upcoming exhibition which will open in two weeks. Right now I hope to help the Professora Edith prepare for the exhibition. She is the design professor for the department and has been very help in introducing me to projects going on at PUC. (the university)

Here is a picture of Edith showing some of the work the students will show in the exhibition...

and here are some of the students...

Also this week, my roommate Felizardo was followed home by a puppy...the puppy was found on the corner of a street not too far from where I live. It was a little girl and I took care of her for about two days before we found an owner for her. Here they have a lot of stray dogs so wouldn´t be surprised if she didn´t have an owner...either way it was fun for a few days and I considered trying to bring her home with me to the US...ha ha

Yesterday I was invited to participate in a festival to celebrate African culture with students at a public school outside the city of Goiania. My roommate, Benvinda was invited to braid the students hair. She is very talented at it and braided my hair about 3 weeks ago for one of our soccer matches! She asked if I wanted to come along and do some kind of art project for the students. I bought some paper last week for my project at Centro Cultural and the owner gave me a bunch of colored scraps for free and this was the perfect opportunity to use the material.

Here is Benvinda working on Mariangelica´s hair

The festival began with a presentation by the students with music and dance. The students then acted out a performance talking about the history of Africa. It concluded with one of the directors talking about the influence of African culture in Brazil and he also spoke about the US and President Obama. Here are some of the pics from the event!

For my project, I decided to make paper jewelry and flowers with the students. Next time perhaps something more related to the subject..anyway, they loved it! and I was amazed at how quickly they picked up the techniques. The students were very welcoming and helpful with my Portuguese! It is possible I will return there to do another activity with the students, something more planned before I leave next month. This was a last minute invite but well worth the trip. Here are some of the students with their work!

and the classroom! The art teacher uses a lot of recycled materials. I loved this poster the students made and the Brazilian flags.

This is a picture taken inside one of the classrooms that had posters and iamges all about the history of Africa and current facts that the students had been learning.

My night concluded with an invite by my friend Adriana to go to a balada (dance club) to see her cousin perform. I had met him about a month ago during a lunch I was invited to at his house and was given his cd to listen to. It is sertanejo music and I lived it a lot. Here is a picture of Paulina, Adriana, and I at the show.

And her cousin Guilherme singing

and my favorite part...checking out all the crazy boots people were wearing...definitely a highlight of Goiânia for me!

Apparently I am not too good with these updates!

2011-11-15T13:17:00.000-08:00

Progress..takes.....
time and energy and engagement.

At times it can be hard..but you have to keep going!

My new work area. At the beginning I thought about working outside in the empty garage behind my house but quickly realized it wouldn't be the best option for my work: paper, humid climate, and lots of rain equals a disaster for a paper artist.

I have been experimenting with a pretty familiar material for residence of Goiânia. These are tickets you use to get on the bus. When you enter the bus there is a machine that you pass the ticket through or when u enter the bus terminal. Once it is used it is thrown in the trash and I began to notice how many can be found on the streets, stations, and even on the floor of the bus.

Me and my crazy ideas...

Why not collect this material! So now I've started to make some colleges and sculptures. It has been refreshing to try a different quality and type of paper. I am collecting the material in masses. There is a bus terminal close to my house and I try to go everyday to gather more tickets. There is even one guy who works there that started separating the tickets for me..I usually dig them out of the trash bag that hangs below the machine..yeah..I am sure it looks really strange to locals. A gringa digging through the trash but I would do the same in the US..

And coming soon...actually a lot sooner than I may be prepared for.....

Hello Goiânia! Tchau Rio!

2011-10-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been a lot of fun spending time with my friends and family in Rio. It’s hard to believe that two weeks have already gone by and I am now already in a new place. I felt at home in Rio. I was comfortable and felt as though many things hadn’t changed. I did a lot in those two weeks. I had to opportunity to go to Rock in Rio, which is a big music festival they have every few years there. It was a 6 day festival and had a very interesting mix of artists. I went on the day that was considered “soul” music. I saw Joss Stone, Ke$ha, Jamiroquaiand Steve Wonder along with Brazilian artists Diogo Nogueira, a tribute to the band Legião Urbana (was really amazing and everyone in the crowd went CRAZY)

I celebrated my 26^th birthday with my Rio friends of 3 years! Went dancing, parties, went to the beach, got my tattoo (kidding it’s fake), visited with my friend in Rocinha and students from the art school and explored the city as I always love to do!

Yesterday I arrived in Goiânia. On the plane ride here I was nervously and anxiously awaiting my arrival. As I looked out the window of the plane, I saw so much green space.

I landed and was greeted by a student from the university named Korran. (Kohan) He immediately recognized be with my gringa appearance and the excessive amount of luggage. I packed two HUGE suitcases and one small…not really sure what I was thinking…

The university set up housing for me and it seems very comfortable. I met everyone from the house and they are all foreigners as well. Three of the students..actually I think 4 are from South Africa I believe Cape Verde. They speak Portuguese and Creole. The other student living here is from another state in Brazil along with her daughter who is 10 years old. No one speaks English, which hasn’t caused too many problems yet. It’s good for me. A great challenge I guess. One I really need!

I met with the professor from the Art Faculty and was given a tour of the Art Center they want me to assist in during the weeks. It’s great. I am pretty excited about everything and there is so much opportunity. Everything is pretty open and they want me to do whatever I want with the community. So this weekend I am going to spend some time traveling around the city. I am thinking of taking the bus to various points and just observing. The city is average size. Easy to navigate through..so I don’t think I will have any problems and it feels pretty safe. The culture here is very different than Rio and the language. I had comment today about my Carioca accent! (which I liked J) The tend to elongate certain words here. I think it is actually easier to understand Portuguese hear and the people seem so nice.

I noticed a bunch of access wood scraps down the street from my place…possible material I am thinking…I also need to work on finding a space where I can develop some work for a while. .Lots to do this weekend and next week. Everything is a new experience and a way for me to grow. Progress!

Creative Alliance September 24th!! Check it out!

2011-09-01T12:47:00.001-07:00

If you are in the Baltimore area or plan to be at the end of this month check out the live performance of Rose Moraes with Brazilian Connection at the Creative Alliance located in Patterson Park!! Come prepared to dance!

2011-07-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

Preparation para Setembro

2011-07-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

More pics from the show

2011-03-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

Final Show at Creative Alliance Photos

2011-03-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

So May and I did it! We completed the show at the Creative Alliance. It was great and we had lots of friends and family there for support. Though the install was a huge pain and I was student teaching 5 classes a day, barely sleeping and working on the weekends...we finished! It has felt great to meet that goal. We are working on having the work shown in some other spaces and adding some additional pieces. Here are some pictures by Alex Cummings and Ryan Ives from the show. A review by friend, Sara Barnes from her site Brown Paper Bag. Check it out and let us know what you think! I'll upload some more later this week.

Rua Differente

2011-02-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

Rua Differente is a piece that documents the different paths I took throughout my time in Rio. As I became more familiar with the city but still not sufficent at speaking the language, I found it most comforting to explore the city and develop daily routines and encounters with people throughout the city.

Viva Brasil 2011

2011-01-10T19:07:00.000-08:00

New Year New Start

2011-01-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

The new year has arrived and boy is there a lot to come in the next couple of months. As I look back at this past year it really is incredible how much can happen over one year. From the beginning of January until now, so much has changed. I feel like I've learned so much about my self through being back in school and returning from Brazil to instantly being on my own again in Baltimore. There are a lot of great new memories that have been made with friend's weddings and gatherings over the summer. But at the same time, it's good to look to the future...

Probably the most important (besides student teaching) and exciting news happening this year will be May Wilson and I collaborating on a show about Brazil opening March 6th, 2011. (this was one of my goals last year!) I've been gathering material the last few days and still have a ways to go but am feeling good about it.

Right now I am trying to focus on a piece about the venedores no onibûs. Here are some images I have been gathering for resources. I'll have pictures of the process of making the piece sometime next week!

This was definitely something I began to encounter on a regular basis when I took the bus. I always tended to catch it during rush hour and that was when the vendors were the most busy suppling cariocas with sweet treats during their commute. Sometimes a commute that could take 20 minutes on a good day could take close to 2 hours. It happened to me on several occasions. :)

I wanted to replicate the bags they carry and considering a performance element in which May and I attempt the same thing here, in Baltimore.

also....

Eu estou indo aprender português na universadade perta na cidade também. Eu falei minha professora no telefone o segunda feira passado e ele disse eu falo bem mas eu precisa mais pratico antes eu volto no Rio. :)

Banana Tests

2010-12-15T17:18:00.000-08:00

Some tests for sculptures in the upcoming show at Creative Alliance. Now that the semester has ended, full speed ahead on this new work.

Cameras

2010-12-03T13:12:00.001-08:00

article

Morro de Alemão e Vila Cruzeiro

2010-12-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

Report from Globo with Video

O Globo- Drogas na Volta Redonda

Food for thought....

2010-11-30T20:50:00.000-08:00

If you believe it, I encourage you to go for it.

Your life is your art. You will never be without ideas. It is the ordinary that is the extraordinary. You lived it-are living it. Making art isn't about sharing or becoming something else but just expecting who you are.

Your artwork should be an effort to extend information.

Gallery Proposal. Viva Brasil!

2010-10-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Fellow artist and FRIEND, May Wilson and I have been working hard to develop a proposed exhibition for this coming spring at the Creative Alliance. The exhibition will consist of recreating some of my experiences and observations during our time traveling through Brazil. It was so full filling to create this proposal as a more thought provoking step in looking at what I was visually stimulated by in Rio. I am super excited about this project and am working on developing the first step with my google mapping project. Any input or comments are greatly appreciated!

This exhibition is a collaboration between two artists in order to reflect traveling and living in Brazil. A lot of the imagery relates directly to Rio de Janeiro, which is one of the largest and most well known cities in Brazil. Through sculpture and installations, viewers are invited to create a new visual identity of Rio by exploring the streets and interacting with the urban landscape. This kind of exploration is essential to the making of this work and these experiences are recreated for the viewer. Material choices reflect metaphors, connect deeper meaning and connect viewers to Brazil.

Upon entering the gallery space the viewer is confronted with "Abundance," a massive, cylindrical piece stacked floor to ceiling. Constructed of pallets and tree trunks, this serves as the armature for a chaotic web of telephone wires that extend across the ceiling space, enveloping the structure of the ceiling. On the joining wall are two pieces, one is "Bookbag" a cast iron bookbag resting on the gallery floor. The second, "Rua Differente" is a projection of Google Maps which walks viewers through Rua Nossa Senora and Rua Carioca. An interactive element will allow viewers to choose their own path. On the opposing wall is "Wanderless", an intricate landscape created with found newsprint native to Rio. The final piece is "Vending" a series of sculptures hanging from hooks on different racks inspired by the transient vendors that board public transit between stops throughout the city.

Google Maps no Brasil

2010-10-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

As I was browsing the internet..as I do rather frequently now..I came upon this article discussing some recent controversy amongst the google mapping project that was just completed in Brasil. It allows for street views throughout much of the country. Apparently in the process, they captured some unpleasant scenes with victims on the street which surfaced some of the realities the country faces with poverty, drugs, and violence. Here the article I read:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318426/Google-Street-View-captures-bodies-street-Brazil.html

In response there was a blog set up that allows for people to post the weird images they found whether it be disturbing or a computer glitch. Check it out. Pretty interesting.

Street Viu

Once reading about this...I naturally wanted to check out some areas I visited rather frequently when I was living in Rio. It ended up being a little addicting and was really cool to walk down the streets I traveled down on a daily basis. Brought back a lot of memories...I was trying really hard to try to pin point certain people that I knew were regulars on certain streets and areas of the city..whether they were homeless or someone working a stand..

I had luck with one. The picture below is in Humaitá which is a small neighborhood between Jardim Botanico and Botafogo. There is a man that sits on this block selling old magazines, records, and books. He is there everyday..as long as the weather is decent and I walked that block a lot on my way to the Lagoa.

This picture above was another area I had hoped to capture more closely but unfortunately, being that it wasn't a street, it was rather difficult. On the corner of this block off of Rua Voluntarios sits some little stands where people make food and sell snacks. I was a frequent visit on my way to commuting to other points in the city. The first stand was run by a mother and daughter and I would way sandwiches from them almost daily so I became a familiar face.

This next picture below is the corner block where my cousin Lu lived. I would travel to her place a lot and often spend lunch and dinner with her mother and father. It is in an area of the city called Tijuca which tourists typically don't venture unless to visit places like the soccer stadium Maracanã.

The image above is the street entrance to my cousin Katie's studio. She and I developed a lot of work in the months I spent with her. She is a marquetry artist and taught me several different techniques about the craft when I lived with her. This past year, when I was preparing and making a piece for a gallery owned by the artist Joao Machado. It was located in Ipanema and was called PEÇAUNICA Katie let me use her studio as a space to work in and create the piece. Lots of memories. She was my studio buddy and will continue to be.

One of my favorite places to visit throughout the city was located in Centro or the downtown business district of the city. It had this interesting juxtaposition of the serious, business world of Cariocas in Rio but was placed on these historical streets with colorful, historical architecture. My favorite down there is actually Arco de Teles but it isn't on a main street, so you can't navigate through it from google maps.

The image above and directly below are taken outside of Rocinha, one of the largest favelas in Rio. It passed it on a daily basis being that my cousin Katie lived in Barra and Paulinho and Nalita lived in Botafogo. I lived at both of their houses, depending on what my plan were for the day or week. The picture above is the main entrance I took to go to when I was volunteering and briefly helping out with Instituto Dois Irmãos - Two Brothers Foundation. The image below shows what those that pass by on their commute see on a regular basis. Rocinha is unavoidable and over towers the mountain side between the tunnels cars pass through on their way throughout the city.

This last image is the street my friends Brunna and Adam lived on in Lapa. For many Lapa is kind of known as party central in Rio. The streets are flooded with people and tons of clubs are open with live music and dance floors. Brunna and Adam lived a little off the main street and I would visit them frequently on our way out for the evening.

That's all for now..I'll post more as I think about..

Studiooooo work- week 2

2010-10-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

Being that the weekend was rather cold and has been rainy, I took advantage and spent my Sunday in the studio. As an extension of my last post about my progress and through researching cable as a material...I went to The Loading Dock last Tuesday to search for some wiring or cable. I stumbled upon a few materials to try out and came up with a technique that would be easily taught to others in order to produce the size of the piece I am considering.I am trying to come up with a weaving technique through somehow manipulating the material. Since this material is primarily made of rubber with no inner material, it can be easily cut with slits that allowed for the material to be looped inside one another.

Here are some photos from my process and the technique a I discovered. More to come Tuesday!

Here I was thinking about, what happens when the material is stretched and how might this become an advantage to work with if I were to make a large scale piece with this material..or how might it become an issue. Once it is stretched, it remains that way.

I made a few different color samples using the same technique. I am thinking that black might be most ideal, if I can find some.

Hanging vertically rather than horizontal, how does the material react and form?

I began to think about the aspect of the light that would become a key element with this material. Since I am forming shapes that allow for multiple outlets for light to pass through. This is an experiment by hanging the pieces off the wall. The gallery I am working with for me show, as high beams in the middle of the space that are accessable for hanging pieces and I was thinking..it might be nice to have this piece hung from above in the middle in such a way that the light sources complete the piece on the opposing walls.

View from my studio at night. Pretty incredible.

To Do List for the "Big Apple"

2010-10-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

Nokia Open Studio | Prosperity | National Design Triennial: Why Design Now | Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

http://thepacegallery.com/

Vik Muniz- revisited

2010-10-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Vik Muniz Website

what have I been thinking about in the last few weeks??

2010-09-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

In my studio....

About Rio...

specific to Rocinha...

Artists...

Material...
And somehow..this will all come together in the next two weeks for my proposal...

2010-09-05T14:31:00.001-07:00

2010-09-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

Peixes

2010-08-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Peixes

Rio News

2010-08-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

London Favela: Morrinho Project

NPR article

Images of the favela in Rocinha

Hostages Taken in Rio Hotel

Lauri's NGO and the work of Zezinho in Rio

Pallets! Pallets! Pallets?

2010-08-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

After too many weeks of procrastination and little excuses left..I headed to the studio last night to try to work on something. It's like the author Anne Lamott said in the book Bird by Bird..you have to have a shitty first draft whether this is a writing or a piece of art work. Just MAKE SOMETHING ALREADY! So last night I attempted something of that nature. May and Louie came along which helped to have someone else to talk to and bounce ideas off of one another. I did a lot of brainstorming and have three pretty solid ideas for pieces I want to work on in the upcoming months, as my starting point. We dug around the other floors of my studio building and I found a beautiful, old pallet that has become..I think?..a new material I want to incorporate with my newsprint. Tomorrow will be pallet collecting day. My goal is to gather at least 10 pallets by the end of the week that I can cut into with a jig saw and create/construct a wall piece designed like a map...of course this will naturally change over the process but it's a start!

For the time being, here are some images I gathered about pallets..a few interesting websites. The first is called Inhabitat and it posted about a Modern Manafesto House that was constructed out of of pallets and resides in Chile. Check this out!

Some facts I did not know..It's estimated that there are about 2 BILLION ordinary unit load pallets in circulation globally, and about two-thirds of these are only used once. It's further estimated that U.S. companies throw away roughly 4 billion board feet of wood pallets every year. HDR Architecture came up with Unit Load_Redux, a temporary exhibition intended as a probe for sustainable living through the redux of pallets and the use of bicycle energy. Here is the original article. It has so really great photos of the installation.

and moooore images. I can't help it. This is what I love to do. Collect images. At least they are disposable and don't take up any physical space except in the computer world..right?

Caio Reisewitz

2010-08-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to view Caio Reisewitz first solo exhibition at the CCBB during my past visit to Rio. I remember being easier intrigued and influence by the natural beauty that his photographers share with the viewer. The photograph above was probably by far on of my favorites of the exhibition. The color is just so intense and rich. He had many other images of inside architectural spaces that played a lot with light and shadow.

The photography that intrigued me, by far the most, was what simply appeared to be a shot of the forest or jungle. It was a luscious green that soaked in the color and made it feel like I was there. With further examination you begin to notice that what first appears to be a place furthest away from civilization, you notice favelas hidden among the foresta. I decided to look into a bit more of his work and found out he is a native of São Paulo and photographs many of his images within its limits. I personally did not witness or experience much of any encounters with nature while in São Paulo. It is a HUGE city, home to over 11 million people. It is nice to know areas like this do exist there and I like the juxaposition of these two different environments of the natural and processed together. When I saw that photograph, I had an "ah ha!" moment and began to think about this idea in other forms. In some ways I think it was the inspiration behind my latest idea for a piece.

Thesis 2010-2011

2010-08-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

Brief description of previous work upon which this new body of work will be built:

My previous work involved site-specific research pertaining to the Greektown community located in East Baltimore. The project became an investigation about not only the history of the community but also the history of a specific abandoned building soon to be demolished. The project end result was an installation with sculptures and found material from the site that otherwise would have become wasted materials. Themes such as consumption, nature, and urban theory come across in much of my work.

I am interested in beginning a new study of a different community through the means of images, material experimentation, and large-scale site-specific installations. I lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a total of 7 months and grew very fascinated by many aspects of the city, in particular the visual imagery of favelas on many of their mountain sides. I think they are of great interest to me because of visual comparison I see within my own work being clustering, growth, organisms, and chaos but I am interested in interpreting these places through things in nature which goes through a similar growth process. There is a fruit that I grew rather fond of during my time in Brazil called Jabuticaba. What I discovered about the way it grows I found rather fascinating and thought it would be an interesting way to represent these clusters of communities since both relate rather well to one another.

Problem Statement and/or Existential Question that will launch new investigation:

Create an installation that represents different sensory or memories of architecture or spaces in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I see this being done through a series of mappings and then large scale installation or site specific installations that are incorporated into my past research but interwoven into my current location, Baltimore.

This is a pretty precise and rigid statement but should be open to interpretation. I recently have grown fascinated with the favelas located in much of Rio and most major areas in Brazil. They consist of shantytowns where often times you find the working class of Brazil. Most fall in the lower class but there isn’t much of a middle ground between the very rich and very poor in the country. Their jobs consist of pretty much anything but often they are maids or matainence helpers for the upper class and once they have finished a long day of work they return to their homes which are inside these favelas. It is full of more culture (both good and bad) and I think much of the rest of the city simply has in many areas become Americanized and converted to meet international standards that don’t really preserve Rio’s history. I think most tourists that I met who came to Rio, wanted to see these places and still am not really sure if it was for reasons such as medias involvement in portraying communities such as in Cidade de Deus (City of God), which is a real favela in the West Zone of the city BUT I think the majority of the people that did visit left with an overpowering sense of how different life is there from the rest of the city and wanted to help.

Plan for doing the work including a description of steps in the process:

• Updating and actively posting in a daily blog that contains a collection of notes, images through the development process.
• Working weekly in my studio space on further developing experiments with materials and research.
• I am interested in possibly planning to be involved in an event held at the Creative Alliance in February about Brazil. I am in contact with the person in charge to discuss about exhibiting during this event.

Nature of work to be done in terms of quantity and quality:

I am envisioning a large-scale installation that explores new materials and new ideas about Brazil but furthers some of my past explorations with materials such as newspaper, metal, and wood. Depending on the size and labor intensity of the work, I hope to complete 2 – 3 pieces.

Saara

2010-07-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

So I recently started re-reading this book called Rio de Janeiro: Carnival under Fire by Ruy Castro. I read the book about two years ago right before I left for my first trip to visit the Cidade Maravilhosa. At the time, my knowledge of the city let alone the country, was rather bleak. Now that I have spent a fair amount of time there and feel like I really know much of the highlights people talk about, it has been interesting to be able to recognize a lot of the topics Castro discusses about Brazilian culture as well as the many different communities found throughout the city.

One in particular that was briefly discussed is an area located in Centro called the Saara (Sahara). I visited on several occasions with Luciana as well as on my own, during my many walks through the city. It consists of over 1,500 little businesses and served as the first home for a large number of Syrian, Lebanese, Jewish, Greek, Turk, Spanish, Portuguese and Argentine migrants coming to Brazil by the end of 19th and early 20th centuries. Rio’s largest variety of merchants can be found here, from clothing to toys, sports equipment, artificial flowers and costume accessories, among many others. It is a fantastic popular Carioca market and often overlooked by tourists, which helps keep prices reasonable. You are more likely to see a local shopping here as well, which creates an authentic atmosphere.

My personal experience was pleasantly hectic. I went to shop and purchase my "costumes" for carnival in true Carioca style. During the weeks leading up to the big festivities it is a mad house down there because everything is so cheap. It was rather crowded and people were frantically searching for the best finds for the week of never ending drinks and dancing. On a regular day, the atmosphere is a little different but still pretty busy and fast paced. I think I enjoy the area so much because of the visual overload you experience while walking by all the different shops as well as the sound of the announcers standing at the ever edge of their space, shouting deals left and right. I found it rather impressive that their were live announcers rather than only recordings. Made it more entertaining and fun.

Besides the voices of people, there was a song that I specifically heard playing a lot around the Saara but even just Centro. It was a clip from a song by an artist named Edward Maya. It was probably 5 seconds if that, of this accordion. It is probably one of the only things that accurately can depict the environment in centro for me and it became sort of comical because I would be somewhere walking..or eating lunch with a friend and all of a sudden I would hear this little clip from that song. I was told apparently, that a lot of the newsstands on different corners sell music and so several of them have this song or album for sale. So with this being said, I invited you to check out some different photos I found of the Saara but ask that you play the first u tube clip while looking at the images. If gives you the full experience!

A couple of other clips worth checking out...in portuguese!

Official website

Also, I wanted to start mentioning a few galleries found in the heart of centro and close to the Saara that are definitely worth checking out. One being called A Gentil Carioca. I found the space to be rather intriguing and one of the better places to check out more of the emerging yet underground art scene in Rio. I was also happy to have discovered that is was co-owned by one of my favorite arists, Ernesto Neto which I plan to talk about on my next post!! I finally was able to see his work in person at the Ihotim Art Center near Belo Horizonte which was quite an experience. He seems to have a lot of personality when it comes to talking about his work. :)

Henrique Oliveira

2010-07-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

About two years ago I had the privilege to view a great show at the CCBB in Rio called Nova Arte Nova (New Art New). I remember being extremely bummed that I wasn't going to be able to make to São Paulo for their annual Biennial and had made it a point to go there during my time in Brazil. Plans fell through and I ended up not traveling out of Rio but towards the end of my stay I had the opportunity to check out this show which was just as good as the biennial if not better. The exhibition featured a collection of emerging artists from Brazil. There were a few artists that really caught my eye and most were because of their choice of materials or technique.

Then today, I happened to spend the afternoon in the MICA library in one of my favorite activities..I sat for about an hour or so looking through the Sculpture magazines from the past 6 months or so..reading articles and learning about some new artists. One artist that I happened to stumble upon was about the Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira. I was blown away by some of the pieces that were included in the article and even more surprised to learn he was Brazilian and recently showed some work at Fun Arte in Rio! Then when I was home this evening reading up on his work..I realized that I saw one of his pieces at this CCBB show in 2008. The work was done in wood but incorporated other materials that changed the pieces significantly. I am more drawn to these newer pieces that are full installations. I especially love how he found his material to work with and how his background was originally painting and wanted to find away to interpret painting into three dimensional forms. Watch the video below! He talks a little bit about his process.

Other articles

photo comparisons

2010-07-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

In my search for research and ideas for my new work..I stumbled upon this book called Two Brazilian Capitals: Architecture and Urbanism in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia.

The book was published in 1973 but had a really nice collection of images that I thought were worth sharing. I scanned some of my favorites to share. For direct comparisons I am going to show current images throughout Rio after the old photographs. Not all the areas are direct references but I think they are worth showing for comparisons. Enjoy! Notes to come from the book soon...

Rocinha

2010-07-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

During the last few weeks of my time in Rio, I had the opportunity to help out at a center inside a favela called Rocinha. The picture below is an above shot of the place. I believe it is the largest favela in Rio and located next to some of the most wealthiest neighborhoods in the city. It was of great interest to me mostly because of my daily occurrences with seeing the place while taking the bus from Katie's to Paulinho's house. I had a friend who was active in a center teaching English and had told me how they wanted to start having some art classes so for about two weeks I helped out a few days. Here are some pic from what we worked on. It was a really interesting and memorable experience I think I will never forget. I hope I can do it again but next time knowing much more Portuguese... it was a struggle communicating my thoughts with the kids but we got some good laughs out of my pronunciation of words..

Jabuticaba round 2

2010-07-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

Stuck in my mind

2010-07-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

So I'm back in Baltimore and living in an adorable little house with some sweet roommates. I finally have settled in and also found a dream studio space to begin working on my thesis for MAT. This will begin a new body of research about my time in Brazil, most specifically in Rio. Right now I can't stop thinking about the favelas and that last week I was there the experiences I had. I can't stop visualizing images of favelas themself even though I know the experience being there is completely different. I can't pin point the reasoning behind it other than the visual chaos that stuns me. It is attractive to me and I know they are so much more but the visual itself..is driving me a bit crazy. I can't stop thinking about it. Clusters and groupings. Something that is very present in my work and the process of how I make it. Sooo..with that being said. Here are some images I gathered through this past week. I went to Enoch Pratt Library today and am determined to start reading at least one out of the 5 books I picked up about Rio tomorrow :) I'll let you know how it goes and share anything interesting I discover.

New Artwork around Rio

2010-04-21T15:42:00.000-07:00

Marcelo Caldas- Esculturas com jornal! e ferro

New thing in Rio- photos and exploring...

2010-04-06T14:18:00.000-07:00

Since my time here is passing by rather quickly, my plan for the next few weeks is to really focus on capturing and seeing as much as I can around the city. New experiences and revisting a few places as well. In particular, I am hoping to spend a few days in Sao Paulo and possibly a week or more in Volta Redonda. I think I finally had an IN to visit the factory..meaning..I can really see what the steel mill is like. I am very excited.

This past weekend I went on a photo excursion with some people from the Couch Surfing community. People from all over came and we went around the city visiting some great sites around the city and some new areas I had never been. It was really nice and something I would enjoy doing every weekend here. We are planning another trip this coming weekend..as long as the rain stays away. Lately it has been pretty crazy..we had so much rain the last two days. The streets all flooded and many people couldn't work.

The week started out great! I installed my new sculpture in Ipanema. Here are some pics from the installation. Joao had an assistant who helped me hang the piece. He was a lot of help and very nice.

2010-03-12T00:35:00.000-08:00

Once again..I am slacking on the blog. I do apologize for any frequent readers. I am guessing though..that the majority have lost interest due to my inconsistantcy updates! I would like to give props to a Miss Sara Barnes. I check her blog every now and then and she is always on top of things with updates..wish I could say the same. But anyhow. I will try to make up for it now. It~s currently 530 in the morning and due to the heat today..I am having trouble sleeping. A start to an early day!! The sun is already coming up! So I wanted to share a few pics. Still haven^t taken many but am hoping the warm weather holds out for the weekend. I would like to finally get some sun. I am getting a little tired of the strange looks I get when people see how pastey white my legs are. ha ha. Though today on the bus..I noticed a girl sitting close to me that was whitter than I was and I am pretty sure she was Brazilian.

Oh and here I am..nice and white. My friend Claudinha took me to a cachoeira. A beautiful waterfall in the Foresta Tijuca. It was a nice little hike up to this place and well worth it.

I wanted to dedicate this post..mostly..to sharing my experience or experiences on the bus in Rio. Now that I am working in Barra. I commute pretty much all week from Botafogo to Barra. It is not the best commute but there are many things I enjoy about as well as many things that really irritate me. First off I would like to think I am a rather patient person..but yesterday the bus commute was driving me crazy. On average the ride lasts about 1-2 hours. It really depends on the time of day and whether or not there is an accident or an event going on in some part of the city. Lately it has tended to take around 2 hours. Ive been trying for the last several trips to find the fastest route. There is only one bus that passes right near my place and goes directly to where I need to go in Barra. The only problem is it doesn~t come very often and is rather small. Small meaning..many times you get on and people pack in until there is no room left to breathe. Mix that with 90 degree weather and no air conditioning....and you have yourself a hell of an experience..oh and when I say that pack in..I really mean it..like sardines. Just when you think another person cant squeeze in..the bus stops and someone else gets on..somehow..somewhere.

Now the more positive. The best part of the bus right is really the scenery. Since you are on the bus for so long and travel fairly far..you get to see many different areas of the city. You start in a average, typical neighborhood in the South Zone of Rio. Then travel past the botanical gardens and Gavea which are more ritzy. Then through a long tunnel that opens to more view of Gavea and the American school from above..then another tunnel that is much longer and more irritable when stopped in the middle. Sometimes when the traffic is really backed up, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is the only thing I can think about..once it opens up, it~s like a whole other world. You look to your left and see an enormous hillside home to over 200,000 people..Rocinha. One of the largest favelas in Rio and can catch quick glimpses of the streets which are always full of people walking. Past that you see the Pedra da Gavea where depending on the day you might find people hang gliding from the mountain and those that have landed on the beach...you pass though another quick tunnel that opens to a beautiful view of the ocean and on your right an luscious hillside with lots of beautiful green vegatation that has large house intermixed along the hill. I often dream of having a place like that myself..someday. There is one tunnel left that finally ends with a full view of Barra. From there it is usually smooth sailing. Another 15 minutes and Ive arrived.

Id like to document this experience more..but still havent figure out the best way to go about it..

Here are some more pics!

There was a huge flood here this past weekend and because of it..I had a hard time getting home Saturday night. I was stuck on the street and couldnt make it across the street to get home..so I stood and waited with a few other people..here are a few pics. It~s amazing how quickly the rain came and filled the streets..pretty unbelievable. I was actually on the bus in Lapa, visiting some friends and the rain started when I left for Botafogo. I got there in 20 minutes and the bus driver opened the door to let people out..and no one was exiting..the water was too high. So I road the bus past my house to another area and waited. eh.

This is the space where I will show my piece next month!

Here is where I sometimes work in Katie~s home

This is my crazy but fun friend Brunna. This was taken at a great sushi place she took me in Lapa. Later that day we went to a cool outdoor fair they have once a month with crafts and antiques. I am thinking about making some things to sell next month there.

Also..about SUSHI! My friend Tato..took me out for Sushi a few weeks ago and now I am addicted. I hadnt eaten it since Freshman year after a bad experience..now I am addicted! Man! Was I missing out!

Marina and I! In Lapa during Carnival!

Vic Muniz

2010-02-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

Long overdue post. I've arrived! I am here in Rio and have been trying to stay busy the last few weeks. The biggest news being..I will be showing a newspaper piece in a space in Ipanema. So you can guess what I will be doing the next few weeks! :)

I am going to start posting something daily. Thinking of taking a picture of somewhere I go each day while I am here. Here are a few images of pieces by a Sao Paulo born artist who lived in Brooklyn now. He just won an award for his documentary at the Sundance Festival. He makes pieces with trash found in Rio. Read this article!

Partiu Feroz!

2010-01-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

I am not one to give in and quit..I want to continue what I started so……..back to Brasil I go. In a little less than two weeks I will land and the chaos will begin. I’ve got a lot of things already planned this trip so my time spent being productive will be well worth it. On top of that Carnival starts the following week so I will be able to finally see and experience the madness in person. Today is my last day at work so this next week I will update more about my plans and the articles I promised to write awhile ago…ha ha..PLUS a new wood piece I have been working on..slowly but surely. :)

More from NPR..my work day

2010-01-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

upcoming topics

2009-12-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

Another short week of work has given me the opportunity to work on some grants and applications for upcoming show. I am eager to see what will come of the proposals I am suggesting. I also am hoping to write a few entries in the blog. here are a couple pictures that give you a preview of what is to come!!

new music

2009-12-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

I've become a little bit of a NPR junkie at work. I'm on a mission to find some new music to buy. Here are a few tunes I enjoyed.

Morro da Coroa

2009-12-26T21:30:00.000-08:00

Rio de Janeiro is a city full of beautiful wonders. For each individual spectator, the beauty is found any many different forms. For me, Rio is beautiful for not only their wonderful beaches but also their lush, rich mountains, colorful and crowed streets, and most importantly, for the people that come from all over the world with the same mission, to see this marvelous place!! Sometimes I still can't pin point why I enjoy this place as much as I do. I think some of the reasons are indescribable but rather a feeling and an instinct that keeps coming back and will for some time. Often I feel like when I am there, I am somehow a different person, which in some ways one could argue is quite ironic. I felt like I was more myself in this other country, with a different language and culture. I guess in some ways it’s because these last few months, I was finding myself, the things I like and dislike along with discovering the new and I haven’t had the chance to do this any other time or at least be happy about it! I was confident, I was happy with myself, and I was enjoying everything about my life.

When it comes to being in a new place or environment, my natural instinct is to want to familiarize myself with the simple things. I often times find myself trying to remember landmarks on a street or certain names that will forever remain in my memory. When I rode throughout the city, whether that be on the bus or in a taxi I always was people watching or glued to the window and captivated by the scenery. I think some of my favorite memories spent in Rio, this past trip, were actually when I was commuting around the city by bus or foot trying to reach a destination for a meeting or to visit my family. It’s hard to believe at one time I was petrified of riding the bus because after a few weeks, I took it everywhere and often 3 or 4 times a day. On my many adventures around town, I once in awhile found myself taking a cab from the south zone to the north zone either on my way to the Rodaviara or bus station. It is impossible to drive through Rio without spotting a mountain covered with a favela or shantytown, which are the homes of thousands of Cariocas, each one uniquely different and spread throughout the city. One in particular has always been of interest to me because of the absurd color palette. See it is common to pass by a favela and just be amazed at the colors that are created by the mismatch placement of each building. I found it is easy to appreciate the beauty found in these communities and just how captivating they are to many people. Well in this one favela I had noticed, there are sections that have been painted this funky blue and I was always questioning why this was. I asked a few people and had some different responses. One response involved a theory about the different communities within the favela or possibly a way in which the drug lords mark off territory but I wasn’t really buying any that I had heard. It didn’t really make sense to me. So….I decided to do a little research on the net and see what I could find.

With the help of google maps I was able to identify the area where the favela was located, I’ve identified the favela as Morro da Coroa. Here is a pic that I found through my search. Gives you an idea of what I was talking about with the blue buildings but it looks even more absurd from afar.

Through my search, I stumbled upon this site about two guys from The Netherlands that started painting murals inside favelas in Rio. I am not really sure if this is what is being worked on in Coroa but thought it would make for an interesting post. They launched the Firmeza Foundation that supports the creation of striking artworks in unexpected places. It collaborates with local people to use art as a tool to inspire, create beauty, combat prejudice and attract attention. The project has really taken off in the last few years and it seems they have gained a lot of exposure through what they are doing. Here is a link to their site Favela Paintings and also some youtube videos you should check out. These projects look amazing and what they are planning next will be incredible. They want to organize a project where an entire favela will be painted with the help of everyone in the community. Each house hold would help paint their own house. From what I have read, it seems that the project will take place in a favela located in Copacabana but I am still not sure. They don't give a direct name. I was hoping it was the Morro da Coroa! Here is a link from their site about it. Check it out!

More Info

Getting involved in something like this seems like a great opportunity. Something new to look into to during my next trip!

Picture of the Day- Feliz Natal-RJ

2009-12-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas on the Lagoa and one day I will be there for it!!

Picture of the day- Parque Lage- RJ

2009-12-17T18:30:00.000-08:00

2009-12-17T18:20:00.001-08:00

Brazil on NPR

2009-12-15T20:23:00.001-08:00

Here is another story I heard today at work about Brazil. From now on, anytime I hear one I'll post it to share. Enjoy.

Image of the Day- Grutas in Sete Lagoa

2009-12-15T19:31:00.000-08:00

I share this for not really this image but to remind me of a trip I took out to Sete Lagoa. While I was visiting Belo Horizonte I was staying with a friend I had met and since she was working during the week, I had all day to go explore different areas around the city as well as some hidden gems by myself. Now usually I would be one to not travel alone but when I visited Brazil this trip, I realized how much I like to travel on my own because I felt like I was able to challenge myself more. I decided one day to go see some grutas also known as caves or caverns. I had read about them in my lonely planet book and decided it seemed like something that might be good inspiration for my work sooooooo I went to the bus station and found what bus would drop my approximately in the right area. I ended up asking the motorista (driver) where I would need to get off and when I had arrived he got my attention and I jumped off. Kind of strange because I was on the side of a highway. Was my portuguese that bad? Confused and a little worried I began to walk and noticed right across the traffic there was a huge sign for the grutas and a deserted parking lot in the backdrop. I quickly crossed the street and walked towards a small building that I assumed was the entrance. As I got closer a young girl greeted me and in my usual fashion I attempted to explain to her why I was there. She quickly realized I couldn't speak extremely well Portuguese but I reassured her I could understand and I did..for the most part. We had a few moments when I would be explaining something to her and mix up some word with another. We would laugh about once we figured it out. She was a really geniunly nice person and she was good company while I was waiting for the tour to begin. It was reccomended that I ate lunch before heading up the hill so I sat and ate a snack and drank fresh water right from the coconut. Once it was time to head up the hill, I met my guide who was another girl. Since it was the beginning of the week, I was the only visitor so I got my own guided tour in all Portuguese... I attempted to comprehend and she attempted to explain to me how the caves were formed and I understood bits and pieces..just a little too fast but I tried my best and even asked a few questions :) Portguese is such a pretty language! at times when I can't even understand I am just blown away by how beautiful it sounds.

When I returned back to the office, the first girl I had met was nice enough to help me find a bus back to Belo. Since I was dropped on the side of the road,I assumed that was were I would catch a bus but still was a little unsure about it. She offered to wait with my on the side of the road and it was the first time in a few weeks where I had this moment when I felt like I needed to be pinched because it didn't seem like I was really there and this was really happening. We were sitting on the side of the road and a little old woman was hobbled over a little juice stand that was shaped like a giant orange and inside for two heis she was selling the most delicious homemade juice I had ever had. Every few minutes a car or bus would pull up to buy some from her. The nice girl who was waiting with me told me I had to try some and I much obliged to the offer. It was abaxaci (pineapple) juice and sooooooo good. It was ice cold and thick with pieces of pineapple in it. There is nothing like fresh fruit juice and having a conversation with a complete stranger. Even if you can only communicate in simple forms. We talked a little about Rio and also more about the caverns. It made for a perfect day and I began to realize how kind people are in Minas. They have a lot of pride for their country and are welcoming to all people.

Picture of the day- Home sweet Home- Pao de Acucar from Praia de Botafogo

2009-12-14T19:50:00.000-08:00

Brasil Series #5

2009-12-13T20:57:00.001-08:00

I am currently in the process of looking for a space so I can start working on some ideas for pieces I have been thinking about. For now I am trying to keep up with the marquetry work I was doing in Brazil. I am hoping to start a new piece this week. The piece will be a reference to my experience walking around Sao Paulo. I'll let you know when I have more progress!!

This piece is a reference to the CIEPs found throughout Rio. I wrote about them in an early post. Here is a recap.

Image of the Day- Santa Teresa- RJ

2009-12-13T17:52:00.000-08:00

This is the famous bonde that you can take across the Arcos da Lapa on your way to Santa Teresa. I hadn't had the opportunity to actually ride the train up the hill to this cute little area in the city, full of the boheimian side of Rio, until my last few weeks in Brazil. It is one of my favorite parts of the city and somewhere I could see myself living someday in the near future. It was also the first time I met a new friend named Paulina who was studying at USP in Sao Paulo but was from Paris. She allowed for me to visit and stay with her in Sao Paulo a few weeks after I showed her around Rio.

NPR

2009-12-13T09:08:00.001-08:00

Since I have begun my normal, everyday office job I have started listening to npr to make the time go by faster. I decided to search to see what news they had gathered about Rio with the Olympics and problems with the favelas since it seems to have caused a lot of attention in the media in the last few months. Some of these issues that are discussed, I have been thinking a lot about myself. (Posts to come! I promise!) It's amazing how many conversations I had with people about favelas either by other gringos who were interested in seeing this place (which I fear often times is because of the movie City of God..I in fact had a few people reference it, while we were speaking! Come on! Really! It's a movie! Don't justify your reasonings based off of this!) or by those who lived in other parts of Rio. I myself, began to volunteer in a favela but for a short time.I was jumping around too much, traveling to other places. I think not long enough to really be able to share many thoughts but at least a few. I think it is extremely important to note, each favela is different and some are more dangerous than others. Either way, I wanted to just post some of these news reports that I recently listened to..both positive and negative.

Image of the Day- CS friend's eating Jabutacaba- Belo Horizonte

2009-12-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

I met wonderful people on my spur of the moment trip to Belo Horizonte. It was a much needed trip and a chance to get away from the madness of Rio for a bit. It was a chance for me to see what normal life is like in Brazil without all the glam and glitz of the big cities. It was much like if a Brazilian came to visit Columbus. We'll I loved it and had a lot of fun learning about the culture north of Rio. I stayed with a friend I met through couch surfing. (yes, I did use this site quite a bit during my trip. more explanation on a later post!!) She and her father lived in a suburb outside the city of Belo Horizonte. She was so welcoming and wanted to take me everywhere around the city. She and a few other friends went with me to a great park called Inhotim. This picture was taken there when we were eating Jabutacaba (my favorite fruit) off the trees, in hopes of not getting caught!!

Picture of the day- Volta Redonda Madame Zero

2009-12-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

Volta Redonda has been on my list of places to visit in Rio since even before my first trip and this time around I was able to visit. It was all that I was hoping in more. Very surreal in many ways, which the steel mill in the middle of this city. I was sitting in a mall looking out the window with a skyline of factory buildings and smoke.

This picture is from this amazing concert I went to to see and meet Luciana's cousin's husbands band...whoooooo! that was a mouth full! He is the bass player and they are called Madame Zero. I am not going to lie..the singer reminded me of Missy..slighty...I may be crazy. She called me Mary Jane all night and about 10 other people. We had way too much fun and before we knew it, it was daylight and we were waiting for a local cafe to open for breakfast before heading home to bed.

Picture of the Day- Ouro Preto, MG

2009-12-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

I am going to try something new...to keep myself more on track with my blog, I am going to start posting a picture of the day. Each picture I post will be related to my trip. I recently realized, that I am a pretty forgetful person. I didn't do a whole lot of writing while I was on my trip so now is my time to reflect and share the stories.

I took this picture while I was visited a city that is 5 hours north of Rio de Janeiro called Ouro Preto. In English this would translate as Black Gold and at one time this was the prosperous capital of gold mining in the country. I had read a little bit about this little city during my research and thought I had to see it for myself. It is known for its beautiful Baroque style churches and hilly mountain sides. The streets are pretty small and narrow so it was easy to walk everywhere by foot, the only problem was the size of some of these hills. It was definitely a workout.

my third home

2009-12-02T00:43:00.000-08:00

Wow. What can I say about the last four months. Crazy. Life changing. Hectic. Scary. Great. FABULOUS. A huge learning experience. Learning more about myself everyday. What I like..dislike. was it a Failure? Success? success for sure but in areas I didn't expect I think. I went with high hopes for work and ended up traveling a lot instead..alone in fact and I liked it. I ended up meeting TONS of people. I feel like I have a life there now. My third home, I think. This trip was 10 times better than the last so I am expecting the next to be 20 times better. ha ha! I feel like I pushed my comfort level which was a big step for me. It felt good and I feel like I had some really valuable experiences on many different levels.

So I've been home about two weeks already..which is a little crazy to me. Start a new job on Monday, full time and on a hunt for a space to work. I realized when I was in Brazil. I kept talking to people and telling them I was an artist and in my head that is what I believe. I've had this conversation numerous times with my sister and she hates that term. I somewhat agreed with her for awhile but now or shall say lately..I've felt like using that word only makes me more determined to make it a reality. Being in Brazil allowed me to work on some ideas and in a studio sometimes twice a week and I loved it. I am hoping to start that here, in Ohio. I've had all these ideas in my head..for sculptures and installations. It is killing me I haven't started any sooooo I'm on the hunt for a space at the moment. Once I've found it the next few months will be focused on that along with grants...working full time at Cardinal Health will be tiring but for me it will keep me on schedule and focused. I'm excited and that's a good feeling to have.

A couple days ago I met with my cousin Nalita and I had the chance to share some of my stories from my trip. It felt really good. I was getting really into it. Talking way too fast and overly enthusiastic. It has been one of the rare occasions I was able to share my thoughts about the trip and there are so many. Lots of what I like to call Gringo moments...the ones that are surreal..many. But back to Nalita...She helped me look online and I found a visa I think I can apply for. It costs a bit but am thinking about saving to apply. That way I can look into work there at some point..legally. Either way that next year will involve a lot of life decisions that could lead me in many different paths.

Today I went to visit the OSU campus and Thursday I have a meeting with the director for the Art Education department there. I am keeping my options open for finishing this fall. Right now I am thinking Baltimore but that would involve me moving back there and the thought of moving petrifies me..I guess all the things to bring..though I would like to think I've become much more adaptable to owning less rather than more. I did live on a couch for 4 months... On the other hand, I've been wanting to find a space and start working. I have lots of things in storage to build a space and would want these close by. I could have my own woodshop at this point...but transporting them to Baltimore would be a pain...

my main reasons for wanting to go back to Baltimore are the obvious..friends, the facilities (specifically in terms of the metal shop and old professor friends) and networking. Less so the MAT department. Don't get my wrong. I think it is ok but can see myself finishing there but want to see the cost differences and what OSU has to offer. It is ranked the best in the country there...

So on top of being super busy, I am hoping to plan a trip back to Rio once this temp job ends. I was going to shoot of Carnaval but am not sure if I will make it. Tickets can be rather expensive..twice as much from what I have researched so far. But this trip would only be for a month and specific. even more refined than the last.

Alright I think I rambled on enough for one entry. hope it made somewhat sense.

May's trip to Rio

2009-10-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to have a dear friend of mine stop by Rio to see me. We had a wonderful week together and I was able to introduce her to many of my friends. It was pretty surreal having someone from home visiting but at the same time very nice. It was comforting and we had many good laughs about being gringas. Though the weather wasn't ideal during her stay, we visited a few of the highlights in Rio as well as some of the hidden gems. Here are some pics from our week!

and then from our night out with the group!

Piece #4

2009-10-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

So I have a lot to fill everyone in on...but haven't had the time to write in the blog. So many pictures to post and stories to share. More this week, I hope! This piece was inspired by my trip to Paraty, a trip I made awhile back that I made a post about. I've decided to make a series of these boxes. Each will be inspired by something during my trip. Probably more so associated with a specific place. The main place or city (I should say) would obviously be Rio but also include the other places I have visited.

Tara or Paulo?

2009-09-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

Paulo Jose Keffer Franco Netto

Tara Donovan

I promise you this entry was going to be much more substantial..but you be the judge. Both artists work are made with drinking straws. Which do you prefer? I hate to say it because I am a huge Tara Donovan fan but I like the Paulo's better.

The work below is by an artist named Jose Patricio. I found out about his work when I visited Sao Paulo a few months ago. The pieces below are made out of domingos!!

I am planning a second trip there this weekend to visit some additional galleries and hopefully do some networking. They have a residency program there as well I hope to look into.

Brasília

2009-09-29T18:44:00.000-07:00

Dos semanas passada eu fui Brasília com Luciana. I woke up early on Friday, caught a flight to Brasília and met her that afternoon. It has gotten to the point where I am perfectly fine traveling on my own, a nice feeling. I can communicate enough for people to understand me and I am finding myself more and more eager to learn more words, though I still need lots of practice speaking. I understand better than I speak!

I spent a long 5 days in Brasília, the capital of Brasil. Most people assume immediately Rio is the capital but in fact it is the strange city, Brasília. My first impressions of Brasília were...this is a city? ha ha. Unfortunately I came in having lots of negative impressions of the city. I attended a meeting prior to my trip and had told some friends I was going there. The comments I recieved were as followed:

"How long will you be there?"

Me: "Three days"

"Plenty of time, you can see everything in less time than that. There isn't anything to do there."

"There is nothing to do unless you have a car."

"Ï don't like Brasília. It was a planned city yah know, so it doesn't work."

"The transportation system is horrible."

So...needless to say, I was preparing myself. Overall, my trip was nice but I think for other reasons that don't involve the city. I was able to spend time with my cousin Beto and Marina and Luciana.

What I did like about Brasilia was how rich the colors were in terms of the vegetation. The dirt was this intense terra cotta red and the grass was so green. I was told there are many nice places close to Brasilia for nature walks and hiking. Luciana and I had the chance to go to one park called Parque da Cidade. It was a very large park with many trails and we spent on afternoon strolling around. Here are a couple of pics I took there, of these bird nests.

One thing I learned prior to my visit to Brasilia, was that it is the birth place of Brazilian Rock. Lu had told me there was a festival going on that weekend and it was to feature some of Brazil's most popular rock bands. We decided to check it out on Saturday night. The festival was called Porao do Rock. Here is a picture of Lu and I on our way to the main area. The festival took place in the center of the city where all the main government buildings can be found. We stayed for a few bands and I loved see all the different people. I didn't feel like I was in Brazil at all. Everyone was dressed in black. ha ha. I caught a few kids in metal jackets and attempted to search for more to possibly take some photos but didn't have much luck. Got shy with the language barrier...

Of the bands that I did see, I enjoyed the Black Drawing Hawks.
I danced around a bit. Here is a photo of them playing.

My last day spent in Brasilia, Lu and I went and visited a lot of the tourist sites, which consist mainly of the government buildings and churches in the main center of the city. Several were under construction because of renovations that were underway.
Nevertheless, we made the most of it.

This is me standing in front of the National Congress building. It was designed by the famous Oscar Niemeyer. The postcard image of Brasilia. Is said to be his favorite piece. The seat of the legislative power is an ensemble of buildings were two domes stand out, representing the two plenary halls. The convex and large one is the Chamber of Deputies and the concave and smaller one houses the Senate's. It is said that the domes representing knowledge and information being brought in and out of Brasilia as well as the creation and sharing of ideas for the country.

This building is the Ministry of Justice and was also designed by Niemeyer.

Here I am standing in front of the ever so odd and space like National Musuem. Fortunately you caught me before I ran up the ramp and discovered the building wasn't open!

The lovely Luciana in our many touristic poses with buildings in Brasilia!

Posing with some flowers..

On Sunday morning, Marina, Beto, Luciana and I went to a service at this church called Our Lady of Fatima. It was also designed by Niemeyer and was built in 1958. It was the first church in Brasilia. It was an interesting experience. I attempted to sing hymns in portuguese.

That day was also the one year aniversary of Beto and Marina's wedding day!! and to think I was there one year ago....

The night life in Brasilia was a littl lacking, in my opinion but through some research Lu and I found out about a hot spot called Calafa. We read it was the best place to go dancing and flirt in Brasilia, according to the Veja Magazine's issue of the Best of Brasilia...

It said that Segunda, Monday night, was the best to go. We we caught a cab, stopped for a quick bite on the road..cachorro quente consisting of linguesa, corn, cheese, photo straws, ketchup, and mustard..and headed to the club.

It ended up being a lot of fun. The dj just happened to be from Rio and plays at one of my favorite clubs in Rio called Casa de Matriz, right down the street from my place! Here is a photo of the girls!

we arrived home shortly after 3:30. Tired and sweatly from a full night of dancing. I headed back to Rio the next afternoon. Nothing has yet compared to Rio..but still more to see!!

Fernando Casás

2009-09-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

This past week, when I was working in Katie's studio she showed me a book with pieces made by an artist by the named of Fernando Casás. He is an artist native of Rio and his work focuses on the theme of things in nature. Since I traveled this past weekend for some bit of time on a plane, I had the chance to read the book and look more into his work. I thought the book had a good quote I wanted to share.

"Perhaps the most supreme, most radical exercise of art is an exercise of withdrawl. Creation is not an act of power; it is an act of acceptance of aknowledgement. Creation carries within it the sign of femininity. It is not an act of penatration into matter, but rather a passionate desire to be penetrated by matter. To create is to generate a state of availability, in which the first thing created is an empty space. And the only thing that the artist perchance creates is the space for creation."

Fernando Casás

Here are somewhat more professional images of my pieces I have made. Two more are on the way..but it is taking me awhile. I want to take new photos because I spoke with a few shops in Leblon and am hoping to maybe sell some pieces. We shall see.

Parati, Brasil

2009-09-15T19:30:00.001-07:00

Parati, Brasil

This past week I had the pleasure of journeying to a small town about four hours south of Rio called Paraty. I traveled with a friend that I met in Rio by the name of Catherine. She and I met through the couch surfing group that I am apart of in Rio. Before I go any further…here is a little background info on the couch surfing group. Once a week I go to a meeting that they host in this area called Largo do Marchado. We meet at a bar there and just hang out, drink, and meet new and interesting people each week from all over Brasil…and the world. It has been a lot of fun and nice also to see familiar faces. They have forums online for the city and people post about different trips they plan on taking whether it is around Rio or to other cities or towns. My friend Catherine had posted she was going to Paraty so I decided to join her since we had attended some other gatherings together in the past month.

Our trip started out with a two and a half hour bus ride to a town called Angre. We missed the bus that went directly to Paraty….but ended up having a more local view and experience. When we arrived in Angre we found out that the bus that takes us to Paraty from there was a local bus that stops about every five minutes letting people off and on. For me it was not a problem because I had just a small bag for the three-day trip we had planned. For Catherine, on the other hand, it was a little difficult because she had been living in Rio for the last three months and was planning on continuing her travels to other parts of Brazil as well as Argentina so she had a huge suitcase. But despite our disappointment in the transportation that was presented we loaded on the bus. We were determined to get to Paraty no matter what!! After riding on the bus for about 20 minutes (a packed bus..very packed) I decided to ask the man sitting next to be just how long it took to get to Paraty. He told me it would take duas horas!!! 2 hours!!! Not what I had wanted to hear but once again, we remained positive. Luckily our stop was the last so the bus cleared out along the way. I spoke with the man next to me for a bit. From what I could make out...ha ha..rs..He lived in a town not far from Paraty. I told him I was from Rio and we conversed a little bit. I am sure he asked me other things in which I wrongly answered, but I never really told him I was American and spoke English. I figured he probably could tell..ha ha

Once arriving in Paraty we were greeted by loads of travelers waiting at the small Rodaviara. (Lots of stray dogs roaming around the station as well as the streets of Paraty.) We jumped in a cab and made it to our Misit Chill Hostel. It was a very small place, right along the praia. There were many hostels there as well as several Pousadas in the town. The town is pretty much a tourist destination. Because our trip had been delayed we arrived around four and decided for the evening to take a walk into Centro, which was the historical area of town. Here are some photos of the area. The buildings were full of brightly colored janelas e portas.

In this area no cars are allowed to travel down the streets. There were people riding on horses and in carriages. The streets are covered with large cobblestones that were really irritating to walk on. I was constantly looking at my feet to see where I was stepping. It was easy to trip because it was so uneven and impossible to wear anything other than a good pair of tennis shoes or haviannas. (Brazilian flip-flops)

We had a look at a lot of the shops and took some pictures as well as visited the local teatro that was located on the street Rua dos Bonecos. The theatre has performances Saturday and Wednesday nights each week and luckily they had seats available for the show that evening. I had read a little bit about the theatre online and saw that it was a traditional puppet presentation but after further research I learned that the company has shown their performances internationally. Here are a few pictures of me standing in front of the teatro as well as by one of the puppets. The name of the company is Grupo Contadores de Estórias.

Now when I say puppets, I don’t mean marionettes, which was what I was expecting. The puppets are moved simply but their hands but are disguised in black. There were a total of 5 different acts that were performed by two people. They both wore all black and one would come out towards the audience each time and hold up a title of the act. Then they would remain on the stage where they prepared the puppets for that act and placed the props for the audience to see. Then the lights would dim and each person would take on a role for the different movements of the puppets. It was really amazing because they were able to make the puppets move in a believable way. Really seamless. My favorite act was between a little old women and man. It was just very endearing, sweet, and innocent. I was trying to find a video of one of the acts online but was having trouble finding a decent one. Here are a few clips I found and additional photos.

VIDEO

After the play Catherine and I decided since it was a Saturday night, why not have some drinks and find somewhere to dance for the evening. We headed to a few bars to find the best price for caiparinhas. We settle on a place that was charging R$ 5 Not bad and about half of what you pay at most places in Rio. We hung out there for a bit and then took a walk around centro to see where we might find somewhere to dance. Now since we both have been living in Rio for the last several months we were expecting to find some clube to go to but unfortunately it was hard to find anything like this there. It was too small. We did find on place with live music and a dj but the prices were ridiculously over priced so we decided to talk to some locals and found out there was a local club not too far from town.

We walked and found the place pounding with Brazilian music. Unfortunately I don’t have much experience dancing to this kind of music but Catherine insisted we go in so I did. It was Baile Funk night, which is a mix of Brazilian rap and is derived by Miami bass that requires lots of booty dancing. Ha ha. We sat for a bit and just had some drinks and chatted. After awhile decided to try to dance. Now, I am not much of a dancer when it comes to Brazilian music, I have become use to being identified as a gringo ( common reasons: not moving my hips enough and not enough butt action) but combined with my friend Catherine, we stuck out like a sore thumb. I spoke to a few girls and asked them to teach me but didn’t have much luck getting the moves down. It was a real local hangout, there weren’t other tourists in this place, which was nice.

After sticking it out for a while we decided to head back into town towards the bar that had a live band and dj just for an hour or two. The music consisted of mostly electronic, r&b, hip hop, and rock n roll!! Yeah!! They really like that song Halo by Beyonce here. I hear it multiple times a day. Probably one of the songs I will associate with this trip as well as all the tributes to Michael Jackson. I’ve had a hand full of people ask me about Michael Jackson, since I live in the states. Wanted to know my opinion on whether or not he actually died. Another thing I have failed to mention but has happened at least 15 times or more since I have been here. People tell me I look like Mary Jane from Spiderman aka Kirsten Dunst. I’ve never been told this in the states. I found it kind of humorous at first but after the 5th time it got kind of old...

BACK TO PARATI! I apologize for the tangent. We finished our Saturday rather late and woke up late Sunday to find the weather was gorgeous. We headed to a near by beach that was in walking distance and laid in the sun all afternoon into early evening. While at the beach I made some friends. I decided to take a dip in the water and three little girls about 6 years old came up to me and started talking. We hung out for a bit and I tried to answer their questions. I ended up telling them I spoke English so they helped me understand what they were asking. Very cute. Since the sun was rather strong, and I am I still pretty white, decided to take a walk back to the hostel early and visited a Fortress that over looks the town. It was a nice few of the small little town and a nice walk through the woods.

The rest of the evening we mainly hung out around the hostel meeting other travelers. Parati is a big destination for back packers that are traveling through the south of Brasil. I met people from Germany, New Zealand, England, India, Italy, and the US. Each night our hostel hosted a dinner for R$12 and the portions are huge. For two nights we ate there and has lasagna and stramboli. Both were delicious! And to compliment the food were nice dinner conversation with other travelers.

The next two days consisted of a lot of bad weather and down time. Parati is a great place when the weather is nice there is so much to do like: horse back riding, sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, jeep tours to see waterfalls and cachaca distilleries BUT when the weather is crappy there is not much to do expect read, hang out, draw in your sketchbook and sleep? We had planned on visiting some other nearby beaches which looked phenomenal in the photos BUT the weather wasn’t allowing us to go. Instead we walked around the little shops in town and visited a few museums. Even though it rained off and on it cleared for the evening and I was able to take some more pictures of the buildings. Here are a few of my favorites. I am planning on making my next piece based off of these photos. One thing I found particularly interested were how a number of the buildings had plants growing out of the roofs. It was very whimsical.

This coming weekend I am going to Brasilia to visit my cousins Sergio and Beto. I am looking forward to the visit because the city will be a whole different experience. It is the capital of Brasil and was a planned city. It is famous for its architecture from the famous Oscar Niemeyer. I will be sure to post once I return!!

CIEPS: Rio de Janeiro

2009-09-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

So for the past few weeks, when I am traveling around the citie..in various forms of transportation I have noticed these odd buildings that I thought didn't really fit with the rest of the landscape of Rio. They were built with a very modern design and consistently were full of bright PoPpy colors. While I was away this weekend I started drawing some of them in my sketchbook and upon my return to Rio, focused on spotting some out the window of my bus so I could take a few reference photos. I then spoke to my cousin Nalita about it this evening and was told their history which I found rather interesting and decided to share it with you!

FYI: The pictures below I found on the internet with the expection of the last one..I took that this afternoon.

Blog about schools (em portugues)

Taken from the book: Effective Schools in Developing Countries By Henry M. Levin, Marlaine E. Lockheed

During the first democratically elected State administration of Rio de Janeiro from 1982-86, the Integrated Centers of Public Education (CIEPS) were created to bring about much needed change in public elementary education. The project was devised and made possible by Darcy Ribeiro as well as with the help of the Governor Leonel Brizola. These new elementary public schools were built throughout the state and the capital of Rio de Janeiro and were specifically aimed at enrolling economically disadvantaged children. They were identifiable by their standardized architecture of prefabricated cement modules, conceived by Niemeyer, the famous Brazilian architecture who conceived the capital, Brasilia, as well as their strategic and visible location along freeways, highways, in the middle of city squares or in elevated positions such as mountainsides.

Large, visible, and distinctive in construction, the CIEP schools immediately became widely popular but also the target of much criticism. Their construction exhausted the education budget of the State. The project was intended to built new facilities as well as renovated and improve older schools but because the budget was blown, only construction of new facilities was full filled.

Here is the rest if you care to read...Google Books

some more pics

2009-09-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

Latest finished piece

2009-09-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

As promised...a picture of my latest piece..I am almost done with another and am in the sketching phase of the following piece I plan to start next week. I am going away for the weekend so no studio time for a few days!!

I apologize for the poor quality photos but you get the idea..

amigos e cerveja

2009-09-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

need I say more?

Day #50!! Inspiration for some new work...

2009-09-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

So I've realized my lack of posting once again..things never change with me but I am trying to remember!! I have been really busy the last few weeks!! between job searching, gallery searching, volunteering, and working in the studio I am staying pretty busy here and I love it!!

Here are a few photos of these trees that I like a lot. They are so strange..I pass them every day when I walk around the Lagoa. I have been trying to make it a daily occurance..

The work I have been making in the studio has been mostly wood work which is kind of nice. I have become a little addicted to it..it is comforting for me to work on my pieces. I am only finished with two new ones and will post them soon!! I am very excited to share. I think what I like about this wood technique I am doing it that it is more traditional and I am focusing more on craft than anything else..nice change for a bit..

on the contrary I am beginning to organize some street installations I want to work on..in centro but need assistance so I have put the idea on the back burner until the time is

more plants I like...

25 days already!!?? actually now more like 34...agora

2009-08-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

The post I have been meaning to share about São Paulo. Sorry it took so long...

Day 25 Already???!!??

So what can I say about my trip thus far….muito mutio bom. Muito interesante. I can’t believe I have been here for 25 days already. Doesn’t really seem possible. Let’s see. About a week and a half ago I went to Sao Paulo with Luciana, which I had been looking forward to for sometime now. So imagine leaving at 12am and taking a 6-hour bus trip that arrives at your destination only to find your room isn’t available until later that evening. So what do you do? Spend the day visiting museums and exploring the city of course! I’ve been well prepared for days like these because of college. Nothing I couldn’t handle.

When we arrived in the city I was a little surprised by its appearance. It wasn’t really what I expected at all. I guess I was picturing it to glamorous like New York, bright lights, and decadence but instead was astonished at just how populated it was. So many buildings contribute to the mass of this city. Kind of ugly. It was dark and dirty. Kind of like Baltimore maybe? And probably exactly why I liked it. Ha ha.

There is a building located in Centro (downtown) called the Altinor Arantes Building, where you can see views of the whole city from the top of it and the last day we were there Luciana and I decided to go. They put you in this little elevator that takes you up to the 35th floor and you see “dazzling panoramic views of Downtown Sao Paulo and surroundings” It was a little mind blowing and hard to look at for very long. A skyline of never ending masses. Buildings of every shape and size. The crazy part is I think I only saw a glimpse of the city but feel like I saw a whole lot!! The problem is, this city is just muito muito muito grande! Larger than New York in fact.

We stayed in a hostel called Sampa Hostel. I was located in an area of the city called Villa Madelena. It is known as the artistic, bohemian district of the city. I didn’t get to visit many of the galleries in the area but am planning a second visit in a month or so and have decided that will be my main focus. I am thinking it will be a good place for networking. Here are some images of some graffiti I walked by everyday on my way to the subway.

The hostel we stayed in was really nice and we met lots of interesting people from all over. (Italy, Canada, England, Germany, Mexico to name a few) We kind of stuck together and spent the majority of our time exploring the city together. Gringos unite! Ha ha. Here are a few images of the place we stayed in. It was so welcoming and the people there were very kind. Here is what it looked like!!

Here is a shot of the group with more to come later in this post!!

DAY 1

During the days we spent our time explore the magnificent cathedrals, museums and shops that line the streets of the city. In particular, I enjoyed our trip to a museum called Pinacoteca. It is an art museum that had some really interesting contemporary work. In particular, I was drawn to the work by Joao Loureiro who created sculpture entitled “Blue Jeans”. It was a huge, whale shaped sculpture made of Styrofoam and resin that has been covered with jeans. Here are a few images of the piece. To me this piece is a good example of how sculpture has the ability to transform spaces. The feeling I had when I walked up to the massive piece was phenomenal and also whimsical. Happy. Fun.

Another artist whom I was really impressed with was Norberto Nicola. I just about lost it when I saw his work. It is so visually stimulating. The way he creates his tapestries. They become something more. He pushed the boundary of his material. The work was very organic and the colors are so vibrant and eye popping. Made me want to start making some work inspired by these. Nicola is a Sao Paulo-born artist and one of the most important tapestry designers in Brazil. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2007 or I would already be trying to contact him about his work.

Here are some images of his work. The lighting in the space, everything. PERFECT.

Another museum I enjoyed more so in terms of the exhibition design was the Museu da Lingua Portuguesa. It is located right across the street from Pinacoteca. I was really impressed with how interactive the museum was and how well designed it was. Very contemporary and innovative. I snapped a few photos of this one area that was a whole wall of screens that played consecutively next to one another. Like it was in motions as one, a whole. Really, really interesting. Here there was just too much to see and by this time of the day, Luciana and I were getting really tired and cranky because we hadn’t been to bed. Nether the less I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw and highly recommend it.

When we returned to the hostel later that evening, we both slept for about 4 or 5 hours before going out that evening for pizza and later would meet with the group from the hostel. Pizza in Sao Paulo was pretty tasty. In Rio it is pretty good as well. Most people don’t order a simple pizza of just plan cheese or pepperoni. The pizza has usually 2 or 3 toppings. Here are a few of my favorites-

Calabresa: sausage, cebola (onions), and mozzarella. Alho: dried garlic with oregano and mozzarella. Presunto (ham), Caipurty (Brazilian cheese), oregano and mozzarella. Bernijela (eggplant), alho, and oregano, and mozzarella. Muito Bom! Yummy! Topped off with a bit of olive oil and you’re all set. The pizza is usually served in 2 slices of each flavor and you order usually 2 different kinds. Sometimes 3 if you are really hungry.

After stuffing ourselves with pizza, we went to this teeny tiny bar not far from our place. It was completely crowed with people and had a small group of musicians playing a variety of PBM (Popular Brazilian Music) The crowd was very different than what you might find in Rio. At the beginning I didn’t like it. It was a place where every few minutes you had to shift in order to let someone through. But towards the end of the evening I got use to it and had a lot of fun.

DAY 2
When we first arrived in Sao Paulo it was pretty cold. I wasn’t really prepared for this weathering seeing that being from Ohio, I thought, oh yeah. Old weather in Brazil, it is nothing like where I live so I can handle it but when you mix cool weather with rain and windy it can be pretty nasty. The first day was like this and from what we had read in the forecast the weather was to remain like this our whole trip but fortunately it cleared up and turned out to be pretty nice the second day and stayed that way the rest of our trip. In light of this weather Luciana and I and our friend Martha from the hostel spent the day downtown in Parque Ibirapuera. I guess kind of like the “Central Park” of Sao Paulo. Really, really beautiful and lots of things to do there including free museums!! The MuseuAfroBrasil was my favorite. It had tons of work inside of it. Definitely too much for the amount of space it occupied but either way on of the best museums in Sao Paulo. In particular I was drawn to the work of artist Mestre Didi. We also visited a Japanese garden. Here are a few images from there.

Saturday night our hostel hosted a party for international travelers that turned out to be a lot of fun. It was 40 heis for all you can drink of cerveja and caiparinhas. It got pretty crazy, as you might’ve imagined.

DAY 3

Sunday was spent in an area of the city called Liberdade, which I discussed, in an earlier post when discussing the graffiti artist Titi Freak. Liberdade is home to the Japanese and Chinese community. There was a market with lots of handmade items that we searched through as well as lots and lots of delicious food. We ended up eating at a place that featured Japanese and Chinese cuisine. I had camarao (shrimp) tempura and curry. It came with a salad and miso soup as well. Tons of food for a pretty affordable price and it was absolutely worth the hour-long wait because it was delicious. Here is a picture of what I ate!!

Now Luciana’s

And Talel’s

Too much food for just one person!!

After devouring our delicious meals we attempted to walk off the guilt from all the good food we had just ate and visited a musuem called Masp.

DAY 4

Luciana and I had originally planned on leaving on Monday afternoon but made a spur of the moment decision to stay one more night. The hostel was cheap, the people were good company, and the weather was fantastic. What more could you ask for! We decided to spend the remainder of the day at the park again but were accompanied by a group of friends. Talel, Danielo, and Jordan. Here is a photo of us playing on their playground. See Saws!!!

You might have noticed that I have been talking a lot about the food and Sao Paulo and that is because they are known for having amazing food. I ate a lot while I was there and as much as I wanted to stay longer, it was probably best that I returned to Rio!!

Here is a picture of Luciana and a famous Brazilian chef we had the pleasure of meeting as well as having a traditional French meal in his restaurant. The meal consisted of three courses: a huge salad with nuts and a tangy dressing, a large piece of steak that was covered in a creamy sauce had kind of a tart flavor and French fries. For dessert the waiter serves you a huge scoop of chocolate mousse. All for about $25.00. Not bad at all.

and the final image...a picture of me hanging out in the hammock our last night in São Paulo!! a relaxing trip! now it´s back to my home in Rio!! I´m a true Carioca tambem.

eu falo portugues...well kind of

2009-08-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks I have had a few experiences where people have asked me for directions which I find kind of humerous. I was going to the bus stop the other day and a woman was waiting there for the bus and muito rapido asked me if the bus comes here today. I told her to say it slower...devagar para me por favor..and I was able to answer her question! but then about 15 minutes later while I was on the bus the woman next to me was looking for someone to rant to and unfortunately she picked the wrong person to sit next to. I tried really hard to understand what she was saying and was pretending to acknowledge all of her words and thoughts..just didn't have anything to say or contribute..and somehow it was ok. I could make out she was upset about the cost for the bus..how long it takes to get from the area we were in to the metro stop..and then some other words..mentioned the television? Americans? I don't know what else..a few things..ha ha. I was going to tell her I didn't understand but decided to just go with it and see what happens..

Luckly I started meeting with a tutor this week so that will help. I also am going to be volunteering in a favela in Copacabana. There is a school right when you enter that is looking for more volunteers who speak english and I went there with a friend who organizes a program there. I met with the coordinator and told her about my teaching experience and we are setting up a class with students that are interested in art. I brought in the recent frames I made and they said the students would enjoy working on something this so I am going to do a workshop. Very exciting! I've become much more comfortable getting around now and speaking more of the language..it all comes within time.

Samba in Brasil

2009-08-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

Another busy week has gone by and another one is about to begin. On Saturday I went to an area of the city called Zona Norte and saw one of the samba schools perform. They are already getting ready for carnaval can you believe that??!! Their are several samba schools but the one I saw was called Salgueiro.Basically you pay 6 dollars to go and dance and watch the group perform. It was amazing! The way the dancers move and how quickly. Whoa! I could not keep up but had fun trying. Samba is really difficult! but it was a lot of fun since we were all gringos and didn't really know what we were doing!! ha ha. For carnaval there are several samba schools and each group performs one song that talks about the history of Brazil. I am hoping to visit where they make the costumes and floats sometime in the next month. I think it would be interesting to see. It is a large community project that everyone takes part in. Right now they are just determining which song they will perform for the show so we heard about 16 songs and each time people come around and hand out pamplets with the lyrics to the song. I went with a group of about ten people from lots of different places... New York, California, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Brasil! Nice mix of people!

This is kind of what it was like. Maybe not quite as crowded but still pretty full. I can't imagine being here in their summer which I am told is packed so full with people you can barely move!!

These are just a couple of images from Sagueiro's performance last year in Carnaval 2009. I can't even imagine...

Earlier this evening I found this documentary about music in Brazil and wanted to share part of it with everyone. It is kind of lengthy but interesting if you have the time. Explained a lot to me about the origins of samba and is a great summary of the history of music. I learned a lot. The first video is probably most benifical to giving you a taste of samba. Their are some clips of dancers in full costume. Just watch how fast they move!

eXpErImEnTs??

2009-08-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

These I made a few weeks ago. They are a wedding gift for my cousin.

This was an experiment to see whether or not it might be interesting to mix some wood work with the newspaper. Not sure if I like it but am planning to make more.

On Saturday I met with a new friend named Olivia in Santa Teresa. Santa Teresa is one of my favorite parts of the city for a number of reasons. One being you feel like you aren´t in Rio for awhile because you are away from all the hustle and bustle on the streets and just looking down at everything. The view is quite breathtaking. Also the area is home to a lot of artists and studio spaces.

I met Olivia through a website called Couchsurfers. She is from England and is studying at PUC for the semester. From the start she was very welcoming to any way she could be of help to me during my stay in Rio. We had a nice conversation while having pizza and put me in contact with some people who are apart of artist collectives!! She came to Rio to study Brazilian cinema. I was really impressed with what she has done during her time here. You can tell she definitely has a love for Rio because of her knowledge about the city and willingness to offer lots of advice for places to go.

She introduced me to a few people that are organizing art projects centered around using recycled materials. I am anxious to see what I might be able to get involved in.

I have a busy rest of the week ahead of me. Tomorrow I am traveling through centro to visit some spaces and drop of my information in hopes of organizing a show of some sorts. I also have a meeting with a family in Barra about a potential nanny job for a little boy who attends the American school near where I am staying. Keep your fingers crossed!!

São Paulo post soon!! I promise. I´ve written three pages so far and am still not finished..ha ha

Weekly occurance

2009-08-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

Spraying for mosquitos but finished just in time for me to watch the sunset!!

Little Joy

2009-08-07T14:32:00.001-07:00

This group is called Little Joy and I had the pleasure of being introduced to them by my friend Jordan. They are a Brazilian/American rock band formed in 2007 by Los Hermanos singer/guitarist Rodrigo Amarante and The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti. They are playing here in Rio in an area called Lapa next week. I am thinking about going!! :)

Basically sums up Rio. This video shows some beautiful view of the city. After being in São Paulo for the past week there is no way it is better than Rio. The true Carioca in me!

My trip to São Paulo was very nice and look forward to sharing pictures of the great museums and people I met while I was there.

First week in Rio..

2009-07-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

So I´ve made it! Back to Brasil! to Rio de Janeiro! I´ve been here for a little over a week now even though it seems like it has been longer. I compiled a collections of images that highlight what I did my first week here.

Surprisingly from my first step out of the airport it has been a rather interesting trip. There was a little confusion with my friend at the airport so I was forced to put my knowledge of Portuguese to the test from the start. I arrived in Rio and realized my ride and friend hadn´t arrived and after awhile became concerned about where she might be. Unfortunately I didn´t have a phone yet or really any money. I had planned on waiting to exchange my money for heis later that day..and to top it off I didn´t have her phone number BUT I did have my cousin´s Katie. So after about an hour or so of waiting around I decided to start asking people if I could borrow their phones. I had some brazilian change we call them centavos. I had under one real so that didn´t really help me too much. I ended up finding someone who was nice enough to help me out and I got a hold of Katie, ended up taking a cab to her place and arrived in Barra da Tijuca.

Many things are pretty much the same since my last time here. I guess it has been about seis meses. mais ou menos. More or less. I spent the week walking downtown for bit which I always enjoy. I went to the Banco do Brasil which always has art exhibitions and took a look at the current shows that are there.

Now for my pictures...

These are some monkeys that Katie spotted in her yard the other day. Last time I was here she told me that she had monkeys come around sometime but I never had the chance to see any. We gave the some bananas to keep them occupied while I attempted to take their pictures. Strange little fellows. Wanted to come really close..freaked me out a bit.

My dear friend Luciana has moved since the last time I was here. She moved to an area called Tijuca which is in zona norte before she lived in zona sul in Botafogo. These are a few pictures from her place looking out the balcony in the front of her apartment building.

This picture is looking up from the balcony. There were some houses on the top of the hill and in the morning when the sun is shining bright it is really beautiful.

Luciana and the cow. My first night back in Rio and then this past sabado, Luciana took me to a festa junina. This is a festival that happens every year and all over Brasil but originated in Northeastern Brazil. It is one of the oldest and most popular celebrations of the year. Their are bonfires, folk dancing, fireworks, and typical refreshments served. I also had this delicious dessert called canjuica. Eu gosto canjuica. Eu adoro canjuica. It is so good. I guess it kind of tastes like arroz de doce. Sweet rice that is cooked with milk and cinnamon and is served hot or cold BUT instead of rice it is made with a white corn. Very very cook. I think I prefer it hot and sprinkled with some canela. (cinnamon)

These are some of the decorations they have for the festa junina. Lots of flags hang all across the top of the space and little booths selling food and games to play.

Wiki´s definition for the holiday: Portuguese St. John's Day, brought to Brazil during colonial times, has become a popular event that is celebrated during a period that starts one week before St John's Day and ends one week after. As this nationwide festival, called "Festa Junina" (June Festival), happens during the European midsummer, it takes place in the Brazilian midwinter and is most associated with Northeastern Brazil, but is today celebrated in the whole country.Usually taking place in an arraial, a large, open space outdoors, men dress up as farm boys with suspenders and large straw hats and women wear pigtails, freckles, painted gap teeth and red-checkered dresses, all in a loving tribute to the origins of Brazilian country music and of themselves, some of whom are recent immigrants from the countryside to cities such as Olinda, Recife, Maceió and Salvador, and some return to the rural areas during the festival to visit their families. However, nowadays, Saint John festivities are extremely popular in all urban areas and among all social classes. In the Northeast, they are as popular as Carnival.

We went to one in Botafogo and also one in São Cristavo. An area I had never been before but was nice. We went to the largest Festa Junina they have there. Rows and rows of people and lots of things to see and do.

I also had the pleasure of attending meu primo Jorge and his beautiful wife Beth´s wedding. I had a lot of fun. Danced a lot and was able to see a lot of family and friends there. Beth looked so beautiful and they both looked so happy together!

This is my friend and my cousin Paulinho´s fiancé Fernanda. A very sweet person. Always has a smile on her face.

The bride and groom´s first dance of the evening.

Paulinho and I
Crazy Katie and Victor´s sister

The handsome groom, Jorge. My cousin.

Group photo

On domingo, Luciana and I went walking around the mall and along the streets in Botafogo. This was our view. Marvelous. No wonder while they call this city cidade marveloso. Breath taking. The sugar loaf.

These last fotos are from Sunday night. A group of us went out for drinks and dancing! My kind of evening! Many more to come, this I am sure of!

And last and certainly not least..a video for your entertainment...

A goofy television show that does impressions of celebrities. Luciana loves this video. She can never stop laughing when she watches it.

I am going to São Paulo tomorrow noite and am looking forward to it!! I am sure there will be lots of pictures to post!! I will be there for the weekend and am anxious to see life outside of Rio and what it´s like in one of the largest cities in the world! São Paulo here I come!!

Juxtapoz Brazil Issue July 2009

2009-07-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

As I had mentioned in an earlier post..I recently saw that Juxtapoz Magazine was featuring a month with all Brazilian artist and sure enough I bought the magazine to read up on some of the big names in Brazilian street art. Ran into a few artist I have seen on the street in Rio as well as many new ones I hope to look further into. I chose a few to share.

Titi Freak- TFreak

I found this introduction about the artist Titi Freak pretty humorous so I wanted to share it -

Crawling out of the womb holding a pencil, begin working for a well-known Brazilian comic book company at age 13. Experiment with every material available and you too could have a resume like Titi Freak.

BUT- I do really like his work. He was the only artist in this issue that I am positive I have seen his work somewhere in Rio. I believe he has a dragon similar to the style of these fish right by this tunnel between Rocinha and Barra da Tijuca. I was thinking about on my drive into the city on Sautday and sure enough it was still there.

Here are a few quotes from the interview I found inspirational.

Sempre meaning always represents the desire of maintaining myself as I am now, always working and going after my dreams, always with my heart light and open, always with love, always preserving my character in order to continue growing. It is a way of saying that we will always be learning.

Finding new ways is a consequence of what the person is searching for. I believe that experimenting and adapting lead to different solutions and other ways of creating new languages. Seeing different things, spending time in other places, experiencing other cultures, meeting different people, or simply taking a break from what you usually do is something different.

The interview also brought up something I recently discovered about Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil. (home to more than 20 million) I recently started reading a book about Brazil and it had talked about Sao Paulo having the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. I found this rather interesting because most would not suspect this at all. This artist happens to be Japanese and Brazilian. The question was asked: You were born in Liberdade (the Japan quarter of Sao Paulo), married a Japanese woman, and are going to live in Japan for a while. Do you have an interest in preserving your Japanese tradition?

I don’t think my background will ever be completely Japanese. Only part of my ancestors are Japanese, and I was born in Brazil. Even though I live in the Japanese quarter and experienced a little of that with my grandparents, my culture and traditions are Brazilian. My wife comes from a Japanese family but she was born in Brazil. When she was only three months old she went back to Japan. Her culture is completely different from the Japanese culture of Brazil.

I grew up watching Japanese heroes such as Ultra Man, Ultra Sever, and Dragonball. I used to draw all of them. My artwork evolved while I was watching Akira by Katsuriro Otomo, and other artists such as Yoshitomo Nara and Usugrow. All these things got me closer to the Japanese culture, I was able to see and experience it from different angles. In 2007 when I spent some time in Japan, I could see in the flesh what I only knew from magazines. I learned a lot from spending time with my family there and observing the culture. I got very connected to the Japanese graffiti and art scene. This year I am going to spend three months to paint the cities and stay with family and meet my Japanese friends again. I am just worried about keeping united; if we stay united, we preserve the tradition.

Did I mention he was champion yo-yo player?

Bruno 9LI

His work explores cultural miscegenation and spiritual conditions, as well as the rites of passage of African tribes into a contemporary setting with popular culture symbols.

Bopo
Acrylic and India ink on paper
20.5” x 27.5”
2008

I believe that competitiveness is inside anyone who breathes that sort of energy. I mean, if you don’t let all the feelings that come along with competition get to you, you just don’t take part in it. I’m always searching for the mystery that makes me wake up and work for many hours drawing and painting. Those who like the vibration of my work have the sensibility to read the cartography of my mind and share a vision with me. There’s no rivalry in that. Competition seems to be something related only to business, dealers, and galleries.

I just keep my eyes to the future. There’s a structure, an order to follow, but a mystery between lines and codes. For me, to be innovative means to risk the unknown, I believe that is the way to be a productive artist.

Bruno is based out of Porte Alegre, which is in the southern most part of Brazil. From what I have read about the area and heard, it is very nice and heavily influenced by the Europeans. There is a large German population there. I was darn to his work because his color palette and imagery. At times his work is overwhelming because there are so many things going on but on a few of his pieces I notice how he uses pattern to draw the viewer towards a focal point which are typically African and South American masks. I chose a few quotes from the interview I read about his work. I enjoyed hearing his thoughts in regards to the competitive nature of the “art world” which is something I often think about.

www.Bruno9li.com

Sesper- Sesper Blog

Sesper is one of the most important names in Brazilian underground art. He is currently finishing up his debut documentary about skateboard art in Brazil. He is a graphic designer for several skateboard magazines and brands. He creates collages that reveal years of collecting magazines, pictures, mail envelopes, and other materials. In keeping with his wish that his reconfigured memories be conserved forever, the final result of his work is heavy and thick, pervaded with strong meanings, the glued traces of Sesper’s insane mind.

Those of you who know me, know how much I love working with different materials and collage is something that never is boring to me. Any chance to experiment with materials I’ll take and Sesper’s collages are really exciting to me. I am particularly drawn to the piece Kids: Playground @ 2034. The use of the stables is interesting and just add to the mood of the piece. His interview talked a lot about his influence on American culture particularly the 80s of music, art, and skateboarding. I chose on question from his interview to share pertaining to his feelings toward American culture.

Kids: Playground @ 2034 (detail)
Paper, found objects, and acrylic.
2009

How do you feel about American culture?

Some people told me that I wouldn’t want to come back and I have to agree. I had a really cool time in California in such a short period of 22 days, I just went to LA and SF, but I don’t think these two cities represent the real America.

What I really hate in America is that there are too many laws and rules. I think that’s why there are so many serial killers. It must drive people crazy. The violence and racial issues make me freak out a little.

Because we grew up in a total macho Latin society, SF is interesting. There is a lot of respect and tolerance for all kinds of people and credos. If someone beats you up in Brazil and you try to get help from a cop, maybe they’ll definitely treat you like a sissy. I just hung out at punk shows and skate spots for 22 days, listening to all the accents from all over the earth. To be honest, sometimes I had to see an American flag to remind me that I was in the USA.

The trash produced in the cities scared me too. I don’t know why but I think we produce less trash for some reason.

Mommy Amerikkka
Paper, found objects, and acrylic.
260 cm x 260 cm
2008

I hope to add a few more so check back later in the week.

PS- For those of you wondering. I arrived safetly in Brazil and am now in the process of figuring out what is next here. Pretty exciting. I have a few funny stories to share already but I will safe these for a later post!! :o)

2009-07-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

A view from Corcovado at noite

2009-07-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

Adam Hilton

2009-07-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

I found this artist while searching through StumbleUpon. These are some images by a photographer named Adam Hilton. It appears that he has done several photo studies in foreign countries such as China, Africa, and Cuba to name a few.

I choose a few of my favorite images from a series that focused around a favela in Rio. I love the colors in photographs. They are so rich and vibrant and the night shots complete the picture of the lighting you find in different parts of the city. When I was staying with my cousin Katie in Barra de Tijuca, we would drive by Rochina which is the largest favela in Rio. During the day you see all the hustle and bustle of people commuting from work and home as well as markets and people in their homes hanging out their windows to escape from the heat. It was kind of hard to focus on one because the drive by is so quick. You past by the favela while on a highway that takes you from one part of the city to the next and there is so much to see in such a short amount of time.

When you drive by at night, it transforms into the haven of millions that are captured only by tiny specs that light each area. I couldn't really wrap my head around the situation, how it possibly could be inhabited by over 2 million people in such a confined area?

I wanted to share these photos because it is nice to have a new perspective and be able to look inside and see their view to the rest of the city that is much different than mine.

Adam spoke of his work as follows: These are a collection of images taken from 2001-2004 in the favelas of Rio. The colour work is from the Tavares Bastos favela and forms the main focus of the project. I documented the lives of the majority of favela inhabitants away from the stereotypes of guns and drugs. He says his work is about the relationships between people and how they construct their lives under harsh social conditions.