_{^{Microfilm, or The Day the Rio Grande Became the Sea}}

^{2014, microfilm printed on cotton paper}


"What would a place in the future look like where man no longer exists and nature begins to return to its original form look like?"

To answer this question, the artist Letícia Ramos ventures along the narrow border coast that connects Rio Grande do Sul to Uruguay, in the vicinity of the Patos Lagoon. In a landscape of dunes, ponds and wild horses, the artist seeks traces and subtle movements: the trail of wind and birds; a Styrofoam meteorite; human traces and plant specimens.

Lengthy 30-minute expositions, amplified film grooves, and blinding clarity lend a supernatural appeal to scientific rigor. Accustomed to uninhabited territories, Ramos knows that the construction of a landscape is the construction of a language, so the journey begins with the historical and material investigation of the work instruments, such as improvised cameras with Polaroids and microfilm. Used for decades to archive documents and give them authenticity, microfilm reappears here as the missing link between the past and the future, fiction and reality. As in other works, Ramos conducts her tour with the voice of an imaginary character, in this case a forgotten lighthouse keeper. It is he who guides her through this kingdom of heaven and earth, of dreams and mysteries.


Thyago Nogueira