Concept | Sonho é coisa viva¶
This project begins with a problem, something was bothering me about how we're not giving dreams the importance that I (and some other companions) believe we should. And how dreams could help us to imagine other worlds, open up possibilities not imaginable while we're awake and following the capitalist 24/7 day-to-day life flow. I'm talking from a ocidental, south american, big city lifestyle perspective but I believe it could fit also other contexts, let me know! So, from thinking about dreams, start studying it, and combining with my previous material studies and practices, I remembered this very intriguing experience I had once:
I was in the forest, at night, with other 15 or 20 people, we were all walking into the dark tropical forest (typical Atlantic Forest vegetation, big trees, big leafs, sound of rain, wind and flowing river, quite hot) with flashlights, wearing raincoat and boots, at some point, Jorge Ferreira, who was guiding us, asked everyone to turn off the flashlights. We were close and around a huge Copaíba tree, with the pitch dark looking for shinning things on the floor. For the firts 5-10 minutes, in total dark, it seemed that nothing would happen, I was not even sure what I was looking for. And then someone saw something, a tiny thing that was emitting a low green light, and what happened next was completly crazy, after seeing and maybe identifying this kind of existence, I started to see other tiny green lights around, and it seemed that with time and getting used to the light emmitions from this beings, I could see it better, with clearer and stronger lights. It was like a dreams, doesn't seemed like something you could see awake and sober,we were all asking each other if it was real, "Look at that on! Looks like a shinning dragon! Can you see it too? Is that real? Pinch me!". It is real, it's bioluminescence and was all around, on the floor but also in the air, but clearly weren't fireflies.. so we turned a red light on to see what was it (the red light doesn't interfere in the eye familiarization with the darkness) and we saw palm-tree leafs hanged on other trees. It was Juçara's trees leafs, and we realized that lot of the bioluminescence around, were also in fallen Juçara leaves. It was a Fungus that has a bioluminescent mycellium and growns in assosiation with the Juçara.
Remembering this experience made me want to work with the visuality of dreams and play with bluring the borders between awaken life and dream, reality and utopia, conscious and unconscious, imagination and materiality. Maybe by dreaming more we're transforming little by little the "real and material world".
An important quote that also helped defining the concept and process of the project was one read on Davi Kopenawa's book "The falling sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman" which he says:
"The ropes of our hammocks are like antennas through which the dreams of the xapiri descend to us directly. Without them, they would slide away, and wouldn't be able to enter us" (Davi Kopenawa)
what¶
An experimentation with the Juçara vegetal fibers and its possibilities on glowing in the dark through the simbiosis with the bioluminescent fungi Mycena (Genus).
why¶
- Curiosity with bioluminescence and the desire to bring this feeling of enchantment to disenchanted urban citizens as a form of admiration and respect for biodiversity and life.Dreaming with eyes opened, realization that there are a lot of worlds happening and a lot of possibilities. Hope and imagination to build together new worlds.
- The initial idea to work with dreams that developed in the visual of dreaming, followed by an experience I had of seeing this bioluminescent fungi that seemed I was dreaming with my eyes opened.
- Pure pleasure of discovery and a trial to bring this feeling to others.
- In a more practical way, develop and encourage interdisciplinary researches that explores the potential of natural materials like local vegetal fibers and their biotechnological properties, like bioluminescence.
how¶
The Juçara is an endangered palm tree native from Atlantic Forest in Brazil. It was largely explored due its delicious palm heart. There are some projects now related to the recovery of devastated areas using the Juçara as a main tree of agroforestry systems. This project aims to work in this context, using the leafs and leftovers of this systems. I am working now with a rural community in Silva Jardim, Rio de Janeiro.
who¶
One of the main ideas of the project is to understand what could be this networks of dreams and weave them, together. Get people together to think, imagine, and dream about what we want for our future. Being able to understand that even in damaged anthropogenic landscapes, we can find flurishing life in the cracks and grooves. For this moment of the project, the "who" that I want to be together with are the artisans, artists, ecologists and scientists, the fungus and the palmtrees.
when and where¶
The context of the project is the Atlantic Forest. Right here in the 3rd demantion and also in the dreaming dimention. These are the places we want to be with this project. It is a project that is happening now, contaminating minds with this dreamy ideas since the beggining, with the invitations for collaboration. And it also happens in the future I hope, populating the viewers dreams and ideas.
Moodboard¶
Folder "Final Project" on pinterest
First quick and dirty prototype¶
For the first prototype I decided to experiment on doing a small hammock, with the fiber I had at home, that was like a juta or sisal fiber, both from vegetal sources. I also choosed to make a test on the glowing in the dark visual by applying the liquid from the glowing stick. It is not harmfull, the chemiluminescence reaction works when this 2 elements are combined: hydrogen peroxide and luminol.
This was the result:
