Cao Guimarães and Rivane Neuenschwander Quarta-feira de cinzas/Epilogue (Ash Wednesday/Epilogue) 2006
© Rivane Neuenschwander and Cao Guimarães. Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, Brazil; and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
In Rivane Neuenschwander’s video Quarta-Feira de Cinzas/Epilogue (Ash Wednesday/Epilogue), made in collaboration with artist Cao Guimarães, ants become the protagonists of a captivating journey. Shot on Ash Wednesday, after the end of Brazilian Carnival, the video follows a colony of leafcutter ants as they traverse the rough terrain of a forest floor, transporting pieces of colored confetti to their underground nest. The video is set to a digitally composed soundtrack that blends ambient natural sounds with the sound of matchsticks dropping onto the floor. At the video’s end, we watch the ants descend into the darkness of their nest, intent, perhaps, on furnishing a celebration of their own.
Identification
Title
Quarta-feira de cinzas/Epilogue (Ash Wednesday/Epilogue)
Production Date
2006
Object Number
2006.21
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by PAMM’s Collectors Council
Copyright
© Rivane Neuenschwander and Cao Guimarães. Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, Brazil; and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2006.21
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Physical Qualities
Medium
HD digital color video projection, with sound, 5 min., 45 sec.
Dimensions
Visual Description
Quarta-Feira de Cinzas/Epilogue (Ash Wednesday/Epilogue) by Rivane Neuenschwander and Cao Guimãraes is a single channel HD color video piece that lasts five minutes and forty-eight seconds and is shown on a loop. It is shown in a room with black walls and projected onto the wall.
The video depicts close-up footage of ants carrying colored disc-shaped confetti across the floor of what looks like a tropical forest. The video begins with single ants carrying confetti. The camera is zoomed in and pans along with the moving ants. As the video progresses, there are more ants in groups traversing the foliage, rocks, dirt, and branches on the rainforest floor. The audio of the video is of sounds of nature: birds chirping, wind, small clicks and whistles, and the calls of other unseen creatures. The video concludes with a large group of ants taking the colored confetti into their nest via a small hole in the ground.
