Moving Images/Moving Bodies. Impossible Choreographies in the Exhibition Space

Abstract

The widespread presence of moving image art in contemporary art biennials inspired this research about regimes of movement in exhibition spaces. How do we move when the artwork expects us to remain still? How does that affect our aesthetic experience? Starting from an observation upon which bodies get to move in the exhibition and how, I will analyze works by FAFSWAG, Boudry/Lorenz, and Amador & Jr. as they were presented in the most recent editions of SESC_Videobrasil Contemporary Art Biennial and the São Paulo Biennial, both in São Paulo, Brazil. This paper aims to show not only that movement and stillness are complementary forces intrinsic to the aesthetic experience, but also that the unequal positions of bodies in the exhibition can serve to show how movement and time are elements not equally distributed in our society.