SAR 2021 presentation - Paulo Luis Almeida & Flávia Costa
(2022)
author(s): Jonas Howden Sjøvaag, flavia costa, Paulo Luís Almeida
connected to: i2ADS - Research Institute in Art, Design and Society
published in: SAR Conference 2020
An Ecology of Care provides a philosophical basis for developing practical and aesthetic ways to requalify and improve the experience of being-in-the-city. This experience involves the relationship with spatial boundaries that inform gestures in the urban environment, such as fences and walls or social and political limits; it also implies our being sensitive to temporal boundaries that tacitly shape our perception of the city, such as disposable architectures, working rhythms and natural cycles.
In this video paper, we focus on a common performance-drawing project, carried out in two different cities: Helsinki and Porto. Through several actions, we pretend to challenge the dichotomy between human gestures and natural cycles and address the complexity of the relationships between spatial boundaries and the idiorhythm of walking in the city. Our project begins with the premise that the observation of gestures allows us to understand the way we exist in the world. Also, the re-enactment of those gestures in art practice allows us to understand, in an embodied way, the existential and social changes we are currently undertaking.
In “Follow me”, a drawing performed on the fence surrounding the construction of the new KuvA (Helsinki), we problematise drawing as an act of care and relation, built upon idiorhythmic, embodied and communal gestures in a shared space. In “Insula Perdita” we re-enact the death of palm trees in the city of Porto and the inevitable natural cycles and changes that moulds the perception of the city as a frame and ecosystem.
Both practices explore approaches to the Ecology of Care as a frame for artistic research, through the geographical concept of Throwntogetherness: to perform/draw as a responsive relationship between human and non-human (objects, plants, animals) to emphasize the interdependence between non-human and everyday life gestures in building the value of communality.
Mapping Territories: Drawing and Representation of Space.
(last edited: 2024)
author(s): Pedro Alegria, flavia costa, Sílvia Simões
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
A distinct space is defined by a complex web of relationships that characterize and distinguish it. Capturing these intricate connections proves to be a challenge, and within this context, delving into drawing becomes pivotal—an integral tool in the learning journey. The interplay between the digital and the analog in the realm of drawing as a medium for understanding and representation is explored. Appreciating the essence of space and its portrayal holds paramount importance in engineering education. Thus, we proposed a series of three distinct sessions, each offering diverse content and methods yet crucial for initiating STEM students into drawing as an analog tool for comprehending and representing space. Observing, perceiving, selecting, and representing (Massironi) are foundational. Tailored for FEUP students, the workshop aims to empower participants with analytical, representational, and communicative skills for spatial comprehension through engaging drawing activities. These workshops are thoughtfully structured, assuming that the targeted students may not possess fundamental drawing competencies. The sessions unfold progressively, presenting participants with content of increasing abstraction.
