The NOVA BIENAL RIO is an autonomous and independent event that transcends the scope of a conventional international exhibition; it is a call to innovation and imagination. Under the theme “New Aesthetic and Supercreativity,” we invite you on a journey through the world of art driven by technology. Hosted by the city of Rio de Janeiro, it takes place at both the iconic Museu do Amanhã and Praça Mauá, reshaping the interaction of the public with art. As you enter the NOVA BIENAL, you will be invited to explore unique aesthetic expressions, looking towards the future through digital and technological lenses. Access NOVA.

Aposematic Jacket
‘Aposematic Jacket’ is a wearable computer for self-defense. The lenses on the jacket give off the warning signal, “I can record you”, to prevent possible attack. When the wearer pushes a button under threat, the jacket records the scene in 360 degrees and sends the images to the Web.

アリソン・ショッツ
Алисон Шоц
Fluid State
Alyson Shotz is an American artist based in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1987 and an MFA from the University of Washington in 1991. Alyson Shotz investigates issues of perception and space with sculptures made from a range of synthetic materials such as mirror, glass beads, plastic lenses, thread and steel wire.Karen Rosenberg wrote: “Ms. Shotz evokes natural phenomena with accumulations of beads, pins and other common materials…Often they respond to the challenge of visualizing concepts from theoretical physics (string theory, dark matter).”

Floating Lens
The combination of movement and the reflections of the fresnel lenses, provide an interesting visual experience. When used on the rooftops of Paris, the Haussmanian roofs of the city seem to be seen through a dream. The wind on the lenses lightly distort the surroundings, creating a dream-like environment. Once again, the subtle mix of simple technology and poetic interpretation detach the conscious mind of reality. Leroy compares his project to an intriguing game of fluidity: “everything seems to breathe: no beginning, no end, just a stream.”

Glasses with interchangeable lenses
In her work, she takes the normal out of its context, twists and play with it, to see where it ends up. She wishes to explore the limits within the relationship between fashion, wearable objects and performance. Her body related objects are made to be part of something bigger. It’s her aim to collaborate with all kinds of ‘story tellers’; art directors, photographers, fashion designers, and so on.

Sun Tunnel
Sun Tunnels consists of four massive concrete tunnels, each eighteen feet long and nine feet in diameter, laid out in the desert in an open X configuration. On the solstices, the tunnels frame the sun as it passes the horizon at sunrise and sunset. In the top of each tunnel, Holt drilled small holes to form the constellations of Draco, Perseus, Columba, and Capricorn. These holes, and the tunnels themselves, act as frames or lenses through which the visitor can view the surrounding sky and landscape of the Great Basin Desert.

SIMULACRA
file festival

“SIMULACRA” is an optophysical experimental arrangement. At its heart are four LCD monitor panels, which are assembled in the form of a hollow square, and installed at eye level in the middle of the room. The ensemble appears internally gutted, overgrown and embraced. A tangle of cables and control devices pours out of the middle of the square. All around it several magnifying lenses dangle from chains. The imageless glaring ray of the monitors looks as if the images had fallen out of them. What remains is the essence of the medium: Light.It is an impressive, wondrous experience when images suddenly appear from the pure white by the mere glance through a seemingly transparent film. But if you turn the lens in front of your eyes, the polarizing structure of the film creates wild color shifts or even complementary negative images.

Between Lenses