Rochelle Costi: Desmedida

Since the beginning of her career, Rochelle Costi has been interested in working with the memory intrinsically associated with everyday objects and places, with the story that they have up to the moment that the photo is taken. This story they bear is enhanced after it is photographically documented by the artist who saw fit to observe them.

The eleven photos in Desmedida [Out of Measure] depict surreal situations meticulously set up by the artist in the interior of a house which, according to her, is an archive for each and every one of us – the house contributes to our memory by holding all those things that help us not forget.

With these shots, the artist evinces the gaze of a collector, displaying a very personal assemblage of more-or-less cherished things that are part of her everyday life. According to Felipe Chaimovich, “Wherever she goes Rochelle pays close attention, hoping to adopt another unvalued image or object.”

Although the viewers generally feel comfortable with what Rochelle Costi presents, since they are objects and situations close to everyday life, Desmedida involves a surprising aspect by dealing with questions of scale.

In an abandoned house the artist encounters, apparently, piles of dirt, frightening meat hooks and countless colored barrels. However, a feeling of strangeness is evoked at at least three moments: when the central object is recognized (a handful of dirt, a set of fishing hooks, photographic film tubes); when one perceives that the oversized object is, actually, in a miniature house; and, finally, when this small scene is enlarged to the point of involving the observer. What at first sight could appear playful becomes sullen and ambiguous – in this silent house there are pointed objects along with monumental, uninviting ones, set in shadowy spaces. The artist gives rise to memories and feelings that are not exclusive to her, but are rather universal, as she presents her objects laconically – nothing in this work is imperative.

Rochelle Costi earned her degree in social communication from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS) and later attended Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, in London. Her work entitled Reprodutor [Reproducer], an interactive installation, was shown in 2008 at the Museu da Imagem e do Som de São Paulo. Her recent solo shows includeUma Festa [A Party] at Centro Universitário Maria Antônia (São Paulo, 2007) and Dinâmica Comum [Common Dynamics] at Instituto Tomie Ohtake (São Paulo, 2003).

Rochelle Costi’s work has been featured in prestigious venues around the world including, most recently, Transactions: Contemporary Latin American and Latino Art (Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro; University of Rochester, New York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, USA 2007–2008), Disponha: Fotografia Contemporânea Brasileira na Coleção Inhotim (32 Gallery, London, England, 2007), Zeitgenossische Fotokunst Aus Brasilien (Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk, Cottbus, Germany, 2006), MAM na OCA (São Paulo, 2006), Manobras Radicais(Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo, 2006), Beyond Delirious: Architecture in Selected Photographs from the Ella Fontanals Cisneros Collection (Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, USA, 2005), Farsites: Urban Crisis and Domestic Symptoms in Recent Contemporary Art (Centro Cultural Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego Museum of Art, USA, 2005), and A Foto Dissolvida (SESC Pompéia, São Paulo, 2005). The artist has also participated in various international art biennials: 1st Bienal del Fin del Mundo (Ushuaia, Argentina, 2007), 7th Bienal de La Habana (Cuba, 2000), 26th Bienal de Pontevedra (Santiago de Compostela, Spain), II Bienal do Mercosul (Porto Alegre, Brazil, 1999), and the 24th Bienal Internacional de São Paulo.