Parangonet 1.0: sonic dimension is composed by 2 wearable sculptures that, through its movement in space, create and broadcast sound samples that reefer to the brazilian artistic movement called “Tropicalismo” (tropicalism in english). Each garment is able to trigger and modify a different sound input. When performed together they create a sonic atmosphere that represents the cultural agglutination, represented on the sound atmosphere, proposed by the tropicalists, transposing its fundamental concept to our days.

This piece is strongly inspired by a work called “Parangolé” from the brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica and aims to make a review of this artwork and bring its concept to our time, using technology to raise new poetic possibilities.

The “parangonet 1.0:sonic dimension” is part of a serie of “parangolés” sensed by technology. After sensed the “parangolés” are transformed into what I call “parangonet” in a reference to its new network collaborative features.

The “Parangonets 1.0: sonic dimension” is the first one of a series of wearable garments that form a net of collaborative wearable sculptures that changes and interferes in the environment, creating new languages and experiences.

A monitored dialogue between the “Parangonet 1.0: sonic dimension” creates a transcultural dialog constructed between different worlds and backgrounds.

The “Parangonet 1.0 sonic dimension” performance represents and displays the result of measured information flowing in the emptiness. Together, they form a sonic environment embracing the Brazilian culture but also the culture from where it is performed.

What the “Parangonet 1.0: sonic dimension” allows is the access to a new special, temporal and sonic perception, where the receptor can act as he likes, realizing movements, actions, gestures, performances and noises and doing so, he/she is able to create new syntaxes in the free space just wearing and completing the piece.

This piece breaks the routine and present new elements trough plenty possibilities on the syntax level and doing so it allows a enhanced perception of the objects, life, opening space in daily life for the raise of creative acts.

One of the parangonet is called “be legendary” and is a cape-like-looking garment. It was created to represent the mixture of different cultures. The front side is composed by a patchwork of different traditional textile patterns from different countries. Also the variety of shapes stress the idea of diversity. It has an accelerometer that measures the movement and sends it wirelessly to the computer. According to this data some sound loops are triggered and modified.

The other one is a dress called “lebenserfahrung” (life experience in English). It has a rounded shape format that refers to flying sources. It is made out a pink futuristic vinyl textile that has the intention to point to the future, especially the one imagined by many artists on the 60’s. It has on its body many mirrors and shinny points that reflects the environment. It has a microphone embedded as a jewel. This microphone records every 15 seconds the surround sound landscape and put it on the interactive system. Doing so it feeds the system with its own production.

01 computer mac.
01 stereo speaker system
02 parangonets*

* provided by the artist.

2009

3 to 8 September - Ars Electronica Festival in Linz (Austria).
www.aec.at

Ricardo Nascimento,
ricardo [at] popkalab.com

Jader Scalzaretto,
jscalzaretto [at] gmail.com

I would like to thanks Noemi Auge and Fabrizio for their support, also thanks to Hannah Perner Wilson for the technical advices and Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau for the nice inputs.