The Bienal de São Paulo – this is why I ended up in Brazil. In writing that, I felt time slow to an expanded state only to fast forward. Micro-frictions as a psychological and neurological concept are critical to developing resilience and it is through obstacles that we reign. A massive accomplishment that I made it to the bienal and I very much look forward to both visiting it again and what other obstacles and accomplishments may come- let’s go.
São Paolo hosts the second-oldest art biennial in the world after the one in Venice. Art Basel Miami, Art Week Mexico City and now Bienal São Paolo – across the board the people are the real art to come and see. Watching people watch art.
Second to that and definitely taking first prize on the art side were all the video installation rooms. Curated to a tee, each thought provoking but completely time consuming. Overall- I did not budget enough time – for some like an amazing one called About Time (2025) by Lynn Hershman Leeson (caught my attention of course on medicine cheating time) and plenty enough for just the quick stops into the ones so emotionally intense. The interesting part of all these installations is that now you stay still while the art moves while in other non digital art forms you are doing the one moving- getting closer, getting further, walking back and forth. Video just transfixes the human to become physically paralyzed.
[Small note here that AI is good for some things despite mostly it resulting in the end of the world- I was able to 1) ask it to scan this list of artists and ask which ones did video and digital installation and 2) from that list asked which ones covered the “topic of medicine in china and turning back time” of which the list was more than I expected, but there it was- the answer. All in a matter of under 5 minutes. That would have taken me easily a 1/2 day to sort out otherwise.]
Ramps. Curves. Pretty standard Niemeyer.
What wasn’t typical Niemeyer though was the lack of some sort of curvature on the exterior of the building. Even the ramp on the exterior (which had a great sound installation so don’t hesitate to really explore all the sections of the building) isn’t curved! Shocking! Looking at that aerial view I snuck I fondly reminded also that I took a lovely walk along the lake- it’s a beautiful park worth exploring.
The depth of this experience at the Bienal left me feeling the need to explore more- that the feeling of knowing the unknown is both uncomfortable and inspiring. I didn’t get a chance to study the poster history of the Bienal but got a couple of good snapshots. Like with the poster design at the Zurich Design Museum I believe that there is some graphic design history still yet for me to discover.
I have so many questions. I keep coming back to both the power and constraints of words – the book I’m listening to now “When Everyone Knows that Everyone Knows” in the context of the age of prompts. Will machines be able to use the camera and facial biometrics to infer intent? When a picture is worth a thousand words, are we willing to sacrifice ourselves to that many words? When I look at graphic design- symbols, typography- I think this question is especially important as it’s the multitasking use of words as pictures also. And looping back to videos too- will AIs be able to understand art being experiential full of innuendo and probabilistic messages?
The building does a great job at hosting all of the above- a social dialogue connecting people and their ideas. Can recommend.
Address: Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, s/n – Ibirapuera, São Paulo – SP, 04094-000, Brazil
Website: Arch Daily write up (Ibirapuera Park & Neimeyer), São Paolo Biennial info
Artwork
