Experiments on the Notation of Shapes
João Vasco Paiva
February 12th-April 4th 2010
Opening Times: Tues-Sat 11-7pm, Sun 12-5pm
Address: 31, Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
Opening Reception: Friday 12th February, 7-9pm
Gallery Events -
Artist Talk: Wednesday 24th March, 7pm.
Unmeasured Music: Wednesday 31st March, 7.30pm.
I/O (Input/ Output) is pleased to present its first audio-visual installation. ‘Experiments on the Notation of Shapes’, by Portuguese artist and Hong Kong resident, João Vasco Paiva is a generative multi-channel video installation where Hong Kong cityscapes are used as coordinates for sound synthesis. Computational translation, footage of urban planning and architectural elements are used as a musical score.
In this work, a post-apocalyptic aura consumes the concrete form of the metropolis. Two wall based projections present Hong Kong cityscapes. The city, its emptiness and its structure are kept in ‘time images’ that solicit contemplation. These images show an architectonic, sculptural place; a place in constant mutation. A floor based lcd screen shows images from the warrens of back-alleys of Hong Kong. In opposition to the projections, motion is obvious here. The buildings skyline shifts rapidly, showing not just its major architectonic features, but individual intervention as well, such as the ubiquitous plastic roofs and air conditioners. The author performs a drift through these hidden streets, trying to capture the space in between the buildings.
By presenting a computerized, cityscape-based orchestra, Paiva puts forward a visual experiment in which the core concept of the work is to congregate ephemeral randomness with pre-established composition rules, creating an audio-visual piece that explores the idea of organized chaos. The city presented as a sculptural playground. There is an obvious contrast between the projected sanguine, landscapes and the frenetic back-alley images. While the walk through back alleys operates as the conductor of the musical score, generating a dynamic frequency modulation, the meditative Hong Kong cityscapes play as servos, and constantly shift from one single frequency to another. Here architecture and perspective are being used as the composition tools. The blockage between the city and the inhabitants diminishes as the city is re-presented minimally, visually and audibly.
Artist Biography
João Vasco Paiva is a Portuguese artist currently living in Hong Kong. Paiva graduated from a Fine Arts Degree in Porto Art School with a special focus in painting.
In 2006 he was awarded with a 2 years scholarship from Fundaçao Oriente a Portuguese Foundation that supports young artists in Asia’.
He obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Media in the School of Creative Media City University of Hong Kong where he currently teaches.
His work has been showed in festivals such as: FILE Hypersonica International Festival of Electronic Language, London Exploratory Music Festival, Athens Video Art Festival, City Transit, 2pi Festival, Hong Kong and Shenzen Architecture and Urbanism Biennial and other venues and locations in Beijing Hong Kong, London, Porto, Hangzhou, Sao Paulo and Vienna.
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