Des[bravar] is a subjective, evolutive, world cartography of belonging in a practice of photogrammetry, scanning, 3D animation and sound art, translated into the space by video, 2D and 3D printing, and a VR experience.
Des[bravar] (1) is a digital arts project whose research-creation intention is the creation of a subjective cartography in three dimensions composed of spaces that I consider as "zones of belonging". The project started in 2019, in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, Canada, in what was my adopted city from 2009 to 2023 and was the final project of a master's degree completed in 2022 (UQAM) (2). Des[bravar] is an evolutive project.
Now, with my return to Brazil (my home country), to the unknown city that Recife is to me, I intend to broaden the discussion and complement the cartography with new zones of belonging. This project is an attempt to make an effective and affective contact with the city, aspiring to create a relationship between the Self - (my) immigrant/migrant body - with the Other, in this case, the city, its spaces, its landscapes, its architecture.
My research has a decolonizing approach – I make it one of my goals to well mix sources from different perspectives: different genders, languages, and countries of origin/base. To delve deeper into the concepts of identity, contact and connection, I analyzed the works of authors such as Mary Louise Pratt, Édouard Glissant, Amin Maalouf, among others. Another guiding source of the project is the Anthropophagic Movement, which I consider as something like a "manual" of contact with the Other, a theoretical catalyst of the way to relate to the other so characteristic of the Brazilian people. To this end, I analyzed writings by Suely Rolnik, Lucia Teixeira and others. I also deepened the questions about the digital with the analysis of works by Lucia Santaella, Pablo Gobira and Edmond Couchot.
The research will progress as the project evolves. Concretely, the work manifests itself through a video animation of 3D models generated from photogrammetry (3) of the zones and scans of the body (the so-called "allegories"). The work is translated into space through videos projected in large (or enormous) dimensions, in 2D printed landscapes and 3D printed allegories. The soundtrack – Biosymphony no 1 – is a composition created from recordings of birds from my father’s farm in Brazil, and arranged by me in a sound montage program. In 2023, the virtual reality version produced in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal was born, in partnership with the PHI Foundation.
(1) Un[wilding] in English or Dé[faroucher], in the original French.
(2) Université du Québec à Montréal.
(3) Photogrammetry is a scanning technic that uses multiple images of an object, person, or landscape to create digital 3D models.
Keywords: immigration; subjective cartography; belonging; connection; Anthropophagic Movement; photogrammetry; Tiohtià:ke/Montreal
@ ludmila steckelberg, 2024