»American Lessons - The White Room« 
Light Box
Light Box
© Simone Michelin; photo: Wilton Montenegro
Keywords
Information
Technology
Installation Requirements / Space
3 video channels, TV sets, mailbags, mirrors, windows, walking stick and chairMaterial
black light
Descriptions & Essays
The White Room is a metaphor that illustrates the Brazilian atmosphere face to the constant changes in the domestic economy. Moreover, it points to the delicate balance between North and South - in terms of world geography -- after globalization. It was created for New Orlandia* show, a temporary occupation of a house by artists, in Rio de Janeiro. It inaugurated a new series called "American Lessons". This story is compound by different plots selected among facts that built/build Brazilian history, its relationship with America and the world, between the years of 1994 and 2000. Some events were recorded in Rio, New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, focusing the devaluation of the Real - Brazilian currency, created by the economic strategy called 'the Real Plan'- in January of 1999. These events had as counterplot a fictional narrative, presented by a female character and house interiors in actualsituations of moving, packing, unpacking, piling, changing homes - mobile living rooms. Following the characteristics of the series, this work has a central discussion enacted by comments made by English and American journalists, analyzing the situation and its consequences. The interview was recorded from public radio WNYE, New York. In addition, in the room, you can get a copy of Michel Chossudovsky's article 'The Brazilian IMF's Sponsored Crisis'. * The title New Orlandia refers to the street - called Journalist Orlando Dantas - where the house was located in Botafogo neighborhood, RJ. The structure: a. THE REAL PLAN: 1994 Remember whom they are - the origins: it was the year of 1994 b. BLACK WEDNESDAY: Jan 13, 1999 How was known the day of the announcement of the Brazilian currency devaluation. c. IMPOSSIBLE DEMAND: give me what I want and I will go away!!! d. Cila's song detail installation: chair, walking stick, mailbags detail installation: monitors, broken mirrors, mailbags, entrance door.
(Source: Michel Chossudovsky, www.nettime.org/nettime.w3archive/199901/msg00091.html)
Literature
Maciel, Katia; Parente, Andre and Simone Michelin, ed. Redes Sensoriais: Arte, Ciência e Tecnologia. Essay: O Centro do Crisol.. ISBN 85-86011-74-6, Rio de Janeiro: Editora Contracapa, 2003.
Exhibitions & Events