Anyone who circulates through the streets of the Aldeota neighborhood of Fortaleza will run into the interventions of artist José Guedes. Part of something called the “Projeto Cortes” (the Cutting Project), they are transforming tree stumps into art. And they are forcing people to reflect on the indiscriminate felling of trees in the Ceará state capital. They stand in silent and poetic protest in places where once stood imposing trees.
The interventions appear in the streets that José Guedes frequents everyday. The were created on top of the stumps of trees that, for years and years, made up part of the landscape of Aldeota, one of Fortaleza’s most fashionable neighborhoods. On top of each stump, Guedes has fixed a mirror. The result cannot help but serve as a reflection on the city and the devastation of nature in the name of supposed progress.
The works suffer from a condition common to many urban artistic interventions. Rarely do they remain intact for more than a couple of days. People vandalize the interventions, but Guedes remains undaunted. He goes right back and rebuilds. People pull off the mirrors, and he lays down another. The challenge is constant. The protest is labor-intensive, but Guedes is more than equal to the task. Through his efforts, the artist hopes to awaken the citizens of Fortaleza to the need to preserve nature, and indeed, art itself.
Of course Guedes realizes that this game of cat-and-mouse, of constantly rebuilding and replacing his works, cannot go on forever. The idea is to continue the poetic struggle until the end of the month. “Ideally the works would remain forever as a living protest, encouraging passersby to think,” he said. And while many people are certainly touched by the works, others appropriate the materials or damage the interventions.
To guarantee the continuation of the Projeto Cortes, all of the works are being photographed. If all goes according to play, they will wind up in an exhibition (to see a few of them, click on the Image Gallery link at the end of this page). “The photographs have a life of their own, and maybe if they are exhibited in a space free of vandalism, the Projeto Cortes will cease to be ephemeral,” said Guedes. In the meantime, lucky pedestrians may find examples at such prime Fortaleza locations as the Rua Padre Valdevino, Rua Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Padre Antônio Tomas, Avenida Dom Luiz and in the Bosque Eudoro Correia.
“When I passed by these places I noticed the stumps, generally of trees that had been cut down unnecessarily. These acts are done by people who only think of the short-term, people who ignore the future of their children and grandchildren. I became indignant. I didn’t understand the reason for this indiscriminate cutting,” said the artist. On the wake of his initial horror came the idea of protest. Guedes took molds of the stumps and created interventions using mirrors. “The works reflect images from inside the stump, revealing how the city is devouring nature willy-nilly,” he added.
This isn’t the first time that the Ceará native has used the concept of reflections in his work. Four years ago at the São Paulo Biennial of Art he exhibited photographs that depicted Fortaleza as reflected in pools of water. “The photos were inverted, so that the virtual became real, taking the natural position,” he said. After the Bienal, those photographs comprised an individual show at the Nara Roesler Gallery in São Paulo.
Last year José Guedes made another intervention in the streets of Fortaleza, again to demonstrate his indignation – that time against the "banalization" of violence in the city. He created facsimiles of traffic signs and placed them on posts in the streets of Aldeota. The message: “Assault OK Here” – a humorous attempt to make people think, perhaps more efficient than many other strategies.
Once again Guedes is using art to discuss urban problems and their potential solutions.
Translated with permission from an article that appeared in the Fortaleza daily O Diário do Nordeste. Read the original in Portuguese.
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