Inaugurates today (September 14) at 7 pm at Espaço Camões – Livraria Sá da Costa the exhibition Chromatic Study for the Color Blue by Marcio Vilela. The exhibition organized by Ocupart will remain until October 13.

Here is a conversation between Catarina Boieiro and the artist Marcio Vilela.

Catarina Boieiro – The exhibition Chromatic Study for the Color Blue displays your artistic project about the varying blue tones of the sky, bringing together different types of images and techniques. How the creative process lead to this exhibition?

Marcio Vilela – The project started from a simple question: What are the possible variations for the blue tones of the sky within the sea and the space? This question and the possibility of colour studying drive the entire creative process of this research.
To find an answer one would have to be able to cross the atmosphere layer in order to observe the blue gradually darkening into black. As it was impossible for me to do that myself, I’ve sent a few cameras into space using a meteorological balloon. The cameras brought back the data that have been used for the realization of the project.

CA – The exhibition is the result of a long-term project you have started 5 years ago. Do you always work at this pace? And how does that method affect your work?

MV – Yes, in general my projects take shape in a long period. I find it very important to take time to analyse and test the results. Throughout these 5 years I was mainly focused in the logistics concerning the balloon launch, which has only been made possible thanks to the collaboration of the BALUA project investigators.

I had a lot of time to analyse all the images and mainly to test out all possibilities of the blue colour. Sometimes it is important to put the project aside for a few months before getting back to it. Working within a long-term practice allows me to make mistakes, start again and rethink the strategy. It enhances a more distant and critical perception of what I’m making. The creative process is as important for me as the final work and it always ends up showing one way or another in the final form.

CA – It was in photography that you formed and it is in this field that most of your work is located. You challenge and question your limits (for example, when you draw from photographs, or when you use a weather balloon to shoot). In your work, it does not only matter to manufacture images, but also to reflect on what is and what can be the photograph?

MV – No, honestly I’m not interested in questioning the limits of photography. There are moments when what I intend to do simply does not fit within the limits of the photographic medium, and then I use drawing, video or even painting. A lot of different things can influence my creative process, such as art, science, music and travels. I try to bring those experiences into my artistic practice. I like not to have any restrictions and to be as free as possible to new experiments.

CA – I know you are currently working on the Satellites project …

MV – I’m currently working on a project named Satellites that is basically the follow up of my master’s thesis. It is a quite ambitious project as it requires the most complex logistics and execution time ever. I have been working on it for three years now and still feel like I haven’t reached half of it yet… It has been quite an adventure.

—

From Monday to Friday, from 12 to 19h at Praça Luís de Camões, nº22 4º Dto.