Associação Cultural Videobrasil

Artists Mahmoud Khaled, from Egypt, and Claudio Bueno, from Brazil, are now doing research for their works commissioned under the Videobrasil in Context Prize. They have been selected for the project promoted through a partnership with Casa Tomada (São Paulo) and the Delfina Foundation (London). Khaled and Bueno will do immersive research on the Videobrasil Collection to produce original works of art. In three-month long residencies in São Paulo and London, they will develop projects based around the collection, which spans three decades’ worth of artwork.

Claudio Bueno, whose production is strongly based on the use of new technological media, especially devices which allow for remote audience interference, is working on Dispositivos relacionais (Relational Devices). The piece will comprise one artistic object and one text, i.e. a work of art and a piece of discourse, articulating the issues of the winning proposal in this first edition of the Prize.

Despite its name, Dispositivos relacionais (Relational Devices) curiously tackles the way in which real contact between people is somehow precarious or even impossible in these times of super connectivity. “I am proposing a piece of clothing, a garment which repeals touch between people, thus exposing this approaching-through-negation, at a time when we all seem highly connected but, deep down, it is still questionable whether real contact takes place,” the artist explains.

The surrounding environs, especially the city, are often a key element in the work of the other Prize-winning artist, Egypt’s Mahmoud Khaled. In the last four weeks, the artist has dedicated himself to becoming familiar with the city of São Paulo, so as to create a poetical dialogue between Videobrasil Collection provocations and the city as a generator of identities, behaviors and, somehow, nature.

Architecture and the history of art will also play prominent roles: “the project is a sort of dialogue with architecture, and it is also about issues that have been romanticized throughout the history of painting – topics such as humanity, solidarity, and isolation in the context of a mega city such as São Paulo,” says Khaled. The human factor is also central to the proposal, among aspects such as the social role of the individual, and the artist’s position in society.

The London leg of the residencies begins in November. At 7:00 pm on the 8th, the duo will give a public presentation at the Whitechapel Gallery, to screen and discuss the Videobrasil Collection videos they chose to work with and the topics their projects will address. Following a presentation from Delfina Foundation director Aaron Cezar, pieces selected by Khaled and Bueno will be screened, after which the artists will speak and then answer questions from the audience.

Learn more on the Delfina Foundation website.

View above a video featuring accounts by the two artists.