Gilberto Gil visits Gil Futurível at the Bienal, talking about ancestry and futurism.
“Imprisoned as I was, I had to unleash my imagination. I had to use my imaginative abilities to free myself from that prison. The lyrics of Futurível take into account both of these aspects. I wanted to come out of there with a body that was looser and more complex, in line with the expectations of the new world that technology brings“
Gil went to meet himself. He went to transmute himself, through the work Gil Futurível, by the Azimov Labs collective of artists Clélio de Paula, Floriano Varejão, Lauro Gripa and Agência Rastro, on show at the Digital Art Biennial, which in 2022 will have the theme of conditions of existence, curated by Tadeus Mucelli.
Nothing is more significant than the virtual reality work of “Gil Futurível” when we talk about ways of existing and coexisting in complex times. The artist was thinking about his extreme condition and the ability to transcend beyond the body in order to resist and go beyond.
Gil took part in the process of capturing the images during the production phase of the work. However, he hadn’t experienced the finished work, which goes through important parts of his career and work. In an appointment with Gil himself, he narrated the encounter between the author and his own work in a unique way through digital art.
“It’s an extraordinary pleasure to be a guinea pig in new artistic experiments. Experiments that were already foreseen in my own work. I’m an author who completely fits into this futuristic perspective, of possible futures, of desirable futures” (Gilberto Gil, in January 2023).
The idea of memory in the digital field has always been a pre
occupation of the Digital Art Biennial, ever since the FAD, the digital art festival that brought the biennial to life in 2018. The work Gil Futurível, even digitally materializes the importance of collections, which can produce experiences.
“Collections and cultural artistic memory have in technologies a capacity for immortality… for infinite access to knowledge for many generations. It’s up to us, curators, researchers, festivals, biennials and technology enthusiasts and creators, to focus on the value of our culture, to make it last over time.” (Tadeus Mucelli, curator and researcher).
The Bienal is especially grateful not only to Gilberto Gil and his team for their generosity, but also to those involved in this work, which was only possible thanks to the commitment of the professionals involved and the encouragement of the Kusama Society, Oi and Oi Futuro for its full exhibition at the Bienal.
Photo: Pedro Murad (Bienal 2023 press release)