Dying of Laughter
Initially conceived for the 2002 Bienal de São Paulo, the Dying of Laughter installation included large self-portraits of a laughing Marcos Chaves and a pre-recorded soundtrack of laughter. Visitors found themselves surrounded by his large laughing and grimacing face while hearing fits of contagious giggles and laughter to the brink of tears in their headphones. Exploring the thin line between joy and sadness, awkward-ness and affinity, the installation generated ambivalent emotions, acting as a mirror of the human soul and its daily contradictions.
Sugar Loafer
For Sugar Loafer, Marcos Chaves contrasted the usual tourist snapshots with a series of landscapes of Rio de Janeiro’s emblematic Sugarloaf Mountain. The artist focused his attention on the objects, characters or incongruous situations spotted in the foreground of the image, for a nonconformist gaze at one of Rio’s most photographed panoramas. Presented outdoors facing Le Grammont, the large format images offered festivalgoers an opportunity to teleport themselves to the famous Brazilian metropolis for a selfie in front of the Pão de Açúcar.
