Rivane Neuenschwander and Cao Guimarães: Quarta-Feira de Cinzas/Epilogue

Exhibition Website

Aug 9 2018 - Oct 28 2018

Rivane Neuenschwander investigates nature, language, time, and chance in a practice that spans performance, video, painting, and installation. Born and raised in Brazil, her work is informed by the art movements of that country, particularly Neo-Concretism, with its emphasis on collective participation. In her videos, she engages viewers in complex yet understated narratives and scenarios that reference everyday life in Brazil and playfully imbue the mundane with a sense of the poetic. Her works often combine elements of the natural world with those common to human social interactions.

In Neuenschwander’s video Quarta-Feira de Cinzas/Epilogue (Ash Wednesday/Epilogue), made in collaboration with artist Cao Guimarães, ants––insects so tiny they often seem inconsequential––become the protagonists of a captivating journey. Shot on Ash Wednesday, after the end of Brazilian Carnival, the video follows a colony of leafcutter ants as they traverse the rough terrain of a forest floor, transporting pieces of colored confetti to their underground nest. The video is set to a digitally composed soundtrack that blends ambient natural sounds with the sound of matchsticks dropping onto the floor, which enhances the meditative quality of the diligent labor that unfolds. At times, the ants work together to hoist their load; at others, they appear to fight over these prized possessions. Some rest, while others climb up steep mounds as loose soil shifts beneath them. At the video’s end, we watch the ants descend into the darkness of their nest, perhaps intent to furnish a celebration of their own kind. The video withdraws from the hedonist social affair of Carnival to focus on the intricate communal world of the ants. Their action becomes a mirror of sorts of the revelry; as the ants toil with the confetti—the delicate remnants of fun—one is reminded of the exuberant festivities of Carnival.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

  • Various Media
  • Latin American
  • Contemporary
  • Rivane Neuenschwander

Exhibition Venues & Dates