Inhotim

The other day we took a trip to Inhotim, which serves as one of the largest botanical gardens in Brazil as well as a museum of contemporary art.  Between treks through beautiful landscapes of plants and trees that were completely foreign to me, we would stop to enter exhibits.  One exhibit we visited evoked the strongest reaction I have ever had to a piece of art in my life.

In reality, Cildo Meireles does not simply cate pieces of art, he manipulates entire spaces to evoke understanding and emotions from those who participate in his work.  Unlike most of my posts, this one will not contain photos because we were not allowed to take photos inside of the exhibits.

Before entering the world of Desvio para o Vermelho, one must remove their footwear and leave it at the door.  While the obvious reason for this is to avoid the bright red carpet from becoming worn down by the constant foot traffic of dirty shoes, it also has a very grounding effect, forcing the participant to interact with the space in just one more aspect.

As soon as I walked into the room, I could hear the sounds of the small red TV playing and my vision was overwhelmed by the red walls, furniture, and trinkets.  As I continued moving through the space I noticed the back left wall opened up to a hallway that slowly faded to complete darkness.  Following the trail of red paint that was spilled across the floor, I turned the corner and saw a small porcelain, white sink against the back wall.  As I moved closer to it I became aware that I had no idea how wide or narrow the room around me was in the complete darkness.  The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I looked into the sink, a constant stream of red water was leaving the faucet.  I turned around and quickly walked back into the well-lit room.

Curiosity got the best of me, so I turned back around and went into the darkness again.  I tried turning the faucet of the sink but the constant stream of "blood" continued to drain down the sink.