Floating Kites
Penha Garcia, 2021
Penha Garcia is a small Portuguese village on the top a hill close to the Spanish border. On the south side endless flatlands meet the horizon, on the north side, the absolute opposite: steep cliffs of rocky surfaces and water running on the bottom of the gorges, create a dramatic scenery. Together with choreographer Gustavo Ciríaco were invited by Mapas Natureza to come to this magical place and develop a temporary installation during the period of 5 days.
We started with the simple idea of creating filters that would gently transfigure this context and could be experienced through movement of the body. In order to do this we decided it was the perfect idea to locate this filters floating in the two reservoirs Barragem de Penha Garcia and Poço do Pego.
Using a very low density kind of wood we wanted to create very fragile objects almost like a kite. This lightness in relation with wind and water would create permanent instability, and transformation in the views and geometries. (Solid, form, figure, object, are they not just a temporary state?) People coming to interact with it are also floating and swimming in the same precarious state of things. They discover what it is to be in, out, under or through. Will they also realise that every element of the landscape that surrounds them is changing too?
Concept and design:
João Gonçalo Lopes and Gustavo Ciríaco
Building and coordination:
João Gonçalo Lopes and Gustavo Ciríaco
Production team:
Gui Garrido, Pedro Marques, Miguel Ferraz
Photography:
Idalécio Francisco, Gui Garrido, Gustavo Ciríaco