Featuring a ground-level, close-up view of red and black ants carrying coloured confetti across the floor of the Brazilian rainforest, the title of this film translates to Ash Wednesday.
As the video progresses it begins to show multiple ants per scene: a pair collaborate to move a disc up a small hill, and a group fights over a piece of silver confetti. The vegetation surrounding the insects becomes denser and the shots show increasing numbers of ants and confetti pieces; the brightly coloured, often reflective discs contrasting with the earthy tones of the rainforest. The video concludes with a multitude of ants carrying their confetti into a dark crevice in the soil.
Copyright Rivane Neuenschwander and Cao Guimarães
Soundtrack O Grivo
Courtesy the artist, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London; Galeria Fortes Vilaça, Sao Paulo; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Running time: 5 minutes 48 seconds
Rivane Neuenschwander with Cao Guimarães
Quarta-Feira de Cinzas / Epilogue
Rivane Neuenschwander with Cao Guimarães
Quarta-Feira de Cinzas / Epilogue
Rivane Neuenschwander
Rivane Neuenschwander was born in Brazil. Living and working in São Paulo, she is one of the most internationally renowned Brazilian artists of her generation. Themes of mutability, geography and nature underpin her practice. Highlighting the beauty of overlooked phenomena and seemingly banal gestures, she seeks to unveil, and make sense of, the chaotic logic that underpins both the natural and man-made worlds. Her works are included in including: Tate, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
