Blanc sur Blanc
The video installation shows an image and a counter-image of one of the most conventional stereotypes about Brazil, the samba dancer. In the video, the dancer has an aggressive posture, defying the spectator and walking back and forth toward the camera.
The room has several presence detectors. As the visitor gets closer to the screen, a pair of sub-woofers emit an intense and almost unbearable sound that grows in intensity. Then, as he steps back, the sound vanishes.
The visitor intuitively ‘mirrors’ the movement of the dancer.
Such physical experience aims to create a dialogue based on specularity.
She is the projection of the Other, the reflected image of the visitor, in a game of mirrors that inevitably leads to the discussion about racism, gender and politics.
Being a counter-cliché, she says: “No”
The title explicitly references “White on White” by Kasimir Malevich.
Dancer: Thais Palmares
Photos: Paulo Costa
Max-MSP programming: Pierre Gufflet
Produced by: Le Fresnoy Studio National, France, 2005
Presented at “La Volupté Numérique” , Palais de Beaux Arts, Lille, France
