Ceci Soloaga and Ygor Marotta are a duo of audiovisual artists based in São Paulo, Brazil.
VJ Suave bring something colorfully unique to the international panorama of audiovisual art. They have been combining street art and projection mapping since 2009.
Thanks to their innovative audiovisual approach, they are able to travel around the city with portable projectors and draw with lights on the streets, buildings and landscapes. In real time. Improvising. Like a graffiti writer would do.
Audiovisual and street art are in my opinion the true forms of contemporary art, as they reduce the distance between the art world and the people. They speak a more familiar language than any other art forms. They are anti-elitist by nature, not as a result of a specific political statement.
Vj Suave audiovisual live stories are called “Suaveciclos”. They make use of Tagtool, an app for tablet allowing drawings in real time.
These itinerant projection mappings are colorful, imaginative and highly engaging. Kids absolutely love them as they perceive immediately the drawings are made specifically for them to play with.
VJ Suave create fantasy friendly characters on the go that take on the streets, riding on ethereal light beams. As they come they disappear. Only to then reappear somewhere else. Constantly playing catching up.
It’s very hard not being immediately charmed by their delicately funny audiovisual storytelling. And there is no reason to resist! Their communication with the audience is honest, inspiring and most importantly inclusive: none is left out in this projection mapping extravaganza.
More recently the audiovisual artists have been taken a step further allowing the viewers to step into their visionary world by using VR.
In their enchanted forest (“Floresta Encantada”) the explorers are invited to build relationships with the native inhabitants of the forest: indigenous and animals. A very powerful example of how virtual reality can be used to get us closer to our ancestors and the natural world rather than alienating us.
The viewer is invited to find their own inner harmony with the sounds and visual elements of the forest in order to become unified with the surrounding environment. The result is an unique experience with plenty of food for thoughts to be snacked upon.
As we often advocate the meaningfulness of the artistic experience depends on the artist intent more than on the tool that is being used.
