From Edificio Italia before the rain came down (again).

I travel to Rio today. I am ready to leave Sao Paulo after three weeks here, so that I can come back and see it with fresh eyes. At times I have felt so tired in this city, it is so huge and overwhelming to constantly have buildings tower over you. I think the pollution may have been making me weary, although I think I am more used to it now. On days when I had no specific plan or area to walk to I got very frustrated, particularly as to flaneur without agenda is my favourite thing to do in cities. It was often difficult just to find somewhere to sit and draw- I kept walking towards good views only to lose them behind another jutting rectangle. The only way to keep a hold of my experience has been to enjoy pockets of the city, to revisit spots that were good for drawing and explore the areas I like in more depth. It is time to move on. I am looking forward to coming back to translate Sampa´s concrete poetry after a break on the beach making settlements.

I found a second-hand bookshop today, I bought two books.

The first is a 1949 annual from the University School of Law. I am going to use it as a sketchbook like the one I made in Berlin, using a vague architectural language drawn from observation from the top of Edificio Italia.









The second is a copy of the constitution of Sao Paulo. I am not yet sure how I will alter this one, I think I may wait until I get back to England.




I also made another cityscape out of detritus found on the street.

Graphias Casa da Gravura

I also visited an artists' book exhibition in an atelier (print studio) today. I only intended to pop in, but was shown around and given coffee by a man who explained the studio to me so I stayed for hours. In my broken Portuguese and his broken English, it was a relief to find that many technical terms for printing methods are very similar! He showed me the presses, then let me look through a huge mass of prints and books. There was some fantastic etching and lithography, it is possible that when I come back I may look into working somewhere like this...

When I showed Mauro (I think this was his name) my drawings and explained how I was intending to produce prints/books upon my return to England, he showed me a selection of beautiful aquatints of Sao Paulo.

And these are some of Renina Katz's etchings on show in the current exhibition upstairs of the atelier:

Bienal- final thoughts

Today I have been back to the Bienal for the final time. Interestingly the most traditional work is my favourite. The collections of etchings by Leya Mira Brander (images to follow soon) which she describes as a 'periodic table' are shown in pale wooden specimen cases, the same uniform style of all of the Bienal furniture. I have seen her work elsewhere whilst I have been here, shown in a different way (wall hung- but still collated as if they are ideas on post it notes) and I preferred it then, but it is still my favourite work of the Bienal. Whether this is because I love the formalities of the technique- black and white and reliant on drawing- I am not sure. I do definately enjoy the fact that there printmaking is included in this year's Bienal; traditionally processed but with a fresh and unique understanding of the power of a repeated image.

If we are to measure success on popularity, there can be no doubt that Carsten Holler's slide (similar to that installed in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall) was a crowd pleaser. The work is a welcome relief from the library/reading room atmosphere of the Bienal- I'm sure the curators intended it as such.

Friday (and beyond)

Thursday

It has been raining all day today, so I haven't managed much drawing. 

There is a really great view from out of the back of the Pousada. As dusk lay its blanket over the city, I sat and watched the lights in people's windows slowly wake up until the view was sprinkled with a curtain of square lanterns.

I have also begun a new project, where I construct cityscapes out of detritus found on the street.

Wednesday

Tuesday

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