Forms of collectiveness in the western industrialized countries were deeply affected by the recent changes in the economic order. In various moments in the recent history of Brazil, the importance of the labour movements has been reflected in artistic production - notably in theatre and cinema. In this work the massive strikes in the São Paulo industries of the late 70's form a background for reflecting today's changing conditions of labour and the effect this has on the contemporary “self”. As in previous works, this installation takes as its point of departure circular relationships between women, labour, public voice and cultural production.

Pertinho de Alphaville is made in collaboration with a group of women with various roles within a jeans factory near Alphaville SP and a member of the Teatro Oficina. Their stories, readings and performance are shared and filmed on location in Teatro Oficina in Central São Paulo (designed by Lina Bo Bardi) and in the Wearplay Factory. Video material from this active encounter has been transferred to slides and edited into a montage of interrelating dialogues and scenes. A specially conceived architectural structure extends the encounter into the exhibition space.




Stills




Installation view of There is always a cup of sea to sail in, 29th São Paulo Biennial, 2010. Photographs by Bárbara Wagner