SP-Arte 2024

São Paulo, 2024 – Welcoming visitors at the entrance to the Biennale Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Superlimão, known for its innovative and multidisciplinary approach, marks its debut at SP-Arte by transforming the façade into an iconic installation in celebration of the fair's 20th anniversary. Founded in 2002, the firm stands out once again by expressing its unique and creative vision through an intervention that not only redefines the space but also celebrates São Paulo's vibrant identity. The Façade Inspired by the need to create a dynamic and functional protection for the fair's entrance, Superlimão conceived an installation that goes far beyond its primary function, not only offering shade and shelter, but also becoming a piece of art in itself. Carefully planned to provide a unique visual experience, the façade design features a web that dissolves into strategic openings, allowing viewers glimpses of Ibirapuera Park. Just as Niemeyer is known for his fluid structures and organic forms, the web conveys a sense of fluidity and movement. To create a more pleasing order and harmonious aesthetic, its widths follow a Fibonacci sequence. The choice of colors—white, red, and black—allusions to the colors of the São Paulo flag, and also pays homage to the city's iconic works, such as the Ibirapuera Auditorium itself, which features a red sculpture by Tomie Ohtake. Sustainable solutions were implemented for dynamism and practicality. The use of recycled and recyclable materials extends the life cycle of the materials, allowing them to be reused in the future or transformed into new elements, preventing them from becoming waste. The installation system is simple, allowing for quick assembly and disassembly in just a few days. For the facade, the equivalent of 31,500 bottles was reused. In addition to being sustainable, the material is super durable, withstanding the elements and sunlight. Reflections Exhibition In addition to designing the facade, Superlimão presents the Reflections exhibition, which explores a reflection of human existence through light. Light offers an instantaneous and synchronized portrait of a moment and a reality, which can be manipulated and adjusted as needed. This same light, by repeating moments and complementary forms, creates a portrait of the present and a vision of the future. The exhibition invites visitors to contemplate their own relevance in the universe through conceptual light sculptures. Through light, it seeks to reveal how the environment and time shape each person's identity and destiny, recognizing that each individual reflects light in a unique way. When designing the booth, we opted for an unconventional volume, making the most of available materials in terms of structure and acoustics. The need to manage lighting led us to implement domes that allowed precise control of light input, ensuring that the light intensity did not interfere with the various exhibited pieces. Each booth layout was meticulously planned to integrate a dome, resulting in a solution based on geodesic structures. The use of modular PET panels offered a lightweight, practical, and efficient solution. The geodesic shape itself is recognized for its inherent structural efficiency, and being entirely constructed from PET—specifically, 9016 bottles—its structure is self-supporting, eliminating the need for additional cladding. In addition to lighting control, the booth provides efficient acoustic control. The sensation of enveloping visitors and transporting them to a distinct environment at the fair is achieved through these structures, allowing for a focused perception of the exhibited pieces. This approach not only highlights the acoustic qualities of the material, but also facilitates the assembly and disassembly of the booth, which is prefabricated and can be reused. Among the exhibit's highlights are the "Witness," a meteorite that symbolizes the human connection with the cosmos, the "Shadow," which represents the present in constant transformation, and the "Flock," a visual animation that celebrates unity and collaboration. [Witness] When observing the planet, signs of life's durability are remarkable, contrasting with human brevity. The Witness, an iron ore meteorite similar to those of Earth, represents this cosmic connection, having traveled through space for millennia. Its unique pattern, the Widmanstätten, exclusive to Muonionalusta meteorites, reflects light in a singular way due to the spatial conditions in which it formed. Accompanied by an LED light, its trajectory is evoked while a crystal magnifying lens reveals its complex construction. Using its own transformed essence, a stainless steel metal structure identifies its origin and name. [Shadow] The shadow, as a representation of the present, promotes reflection on life in constant transformation. Two protagonists, bird and shadow, symbolize the experience and life that accompanies us, and the present, a translation of light onto the object. To create an ephemeral and mutable sculpture, devices were used that produced this effect subtly and did not visually interfere with the created form, such as a metal mesh folding and an articulated arm to direct the battery-powered LED light. [Flock] Seconds flow like frames between flashes of light, as life unfolds in a succession of events. No individual is alone in their story; sharing moments and knowledge reveals the power of unity. The Flock consists of meticulously hand-folded birds in different flight positions in a dome. The rotation of the set at a speed combined with the frequency of the strobe light's flashing creates the animation of the birds in flight.