Contemporary Art

Tulio Pinto

Tulio Pinto

In the last twelve years, Túlio Pinto has developed research on sculpture and installation with industrial materials, which denote in the constitution and in the way they are presented, his intention to promote encounters of different potentialities and temperaments; of oppositions that are based on the limits of their possibilities. His work “Athar” means impact in Arabic. The family of works that bears this name presents more radical load situations suffered by the glass pieces that the artist intends to use in established systems. Athar #5 consists of three H-beams and a glass bubble. For Usina de Arte, the challenge was to install the piece over the water mirror of one of the institution’s dams, activating a new layer of perception of the work based on its duplication through its reflection in the water. The series of works entitled Nadir presents, in different systems, angled glass sheets, in an "interrupted fall" position. This pause in the falling movement is due to the interdependence generated between the glass and the system of ropes and stones. The minerals work as an anchor for the situation and a pendulum that "supports" the interrupted movement of the glass. Like Athar, Nadir #almost an island 02 was also installed over a water mirror in one of the institution’s reservoirs. In astronomy and geography, nadir is the lowest point of the celestial sphere, as seen from an observer on the planet’s surface. The Nadir is the diametrically opposite point on the celestial sphere from the Zenith, which is the point directly above the observer in the horizontal coordinate system. Nadir is the projection of the vertical alignment that is under the observer’s feet, as if "a hole" ran through the other side of the planet. Nadir, whose prefix nad has a connection with Sanskrit, would mean a channel, stream, or flow of nothingness. It would then be the channel in which the prana would circulate throughout the body to infinity. Túlio Pinto, 1974, born in Brasília, lives and works in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Duration : 4m
Maturity Level : all

A Boy, A Wall and A Donkey by Hany Abu-Assad

A Boy, A Wall and A Donkey by Hany Abu-Assad

A segment of Stories on Human Rights 2009 produced by ART for The World commissioned by the High Commissioner of Human Rights with award-winning filmmakers and artists, using the universal language of art to sensitize people across the planet to what “human rights” actually means. A Boy, A Wall and A Donkey a short film by Hany Abu-Assad born in 1961 in Nazareth. Hany Abu-Assad is a Palestinian-Dutch film director. The short film of 4’02 is about three boys standing in front of the intercom at a villa’s door, taking turns and speaking into it. Alerted by a security camera above their heads, the maid comes out and throws water at them to scare them away. They explain that they just wanted to record a film but since they did not have a camera, they decided to record it at the intercom camera of the door. The maid laughs and tells them that there is no tape in the camera, which is why they should go to a security camera that works. Taking her seriously, one of the boys leads the others to the wall where they position themselves in front of a turning and recording camera in order to record their movie. Each of them wants to be first, and they all recite their dialogues. When an army jeep approaches in the final scene, they wonder if these are the people who bring them the tape of their movie. A segment of Stories on Human Rights 2009 produced by ART for The World commissioned by the High Commissioner of Human Rights with award-winning filmmakers and artists, using the universal language of art to sensitize people across the planet to what “human rights” actually means.

Duration : 4m
Maturity Level : all

Mobile Men by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Mobile Men by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Mobile Men a short film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul born in 1970 in Bangkok. Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system, Apichatpong has directed several features and dozens of short films. The short film of 4’08 is about two young men in a pickup truck filming themselves. Coming from Thailand’s neighboring countries, through the use of a camera they are discovering each other. In a windy atmosphere, they initially film each other with close-ups of parts of their bodies, then, little by little, they shoot their full figures. As the camera lenses change, a landscape of rice fields and a cinema crew get into the frame. The camera then reshoots the road and the men, as if we were witnessing a film rehearsal. When the frame goes back to shoot one of the two main characters who has tattoos over his body, the man lifts his shirt up and tears off a wired microphone that is taped to his chest. He then pastes it on the tattoo and cries out from the top of his lungs. The microphone picks up the heavy wind noise and the camera moves to capture his face. He looks directly at the camera, smiling. A segment of Stories on Human Rights 2009 produced by ART for The World commissioned by the High Commissioner of Human Rights with award-winning filmmakers and artists, using the universal language of art to sensitize people across the planet to what “human rights” actually means.

Duration : 4m
Maturity Level : all