Galaxies of Luminous Points: The Emergence of Collective States of Invention in Hélio Oiticica's Propositions From Cães de Caça to Cosmococa

This thesis examines the emergence of notions of participation, collaboration and collectivity culminating in Hélio Oiticica and Neville D'Almeida's Block Experiments in Cosmococa - program in progress (1973-74). It traces a genealogy of Oiticica's Environmental Program leading up to Cosmococa, including an analysis of Cães de Caça (1961), Tropicália (1967), Apocalipopótese (1968), Eden (1969), Barracão-Cell 1 (1969), Ninhos (1970), Babylonests (1970-74) and Hendrixts (1974-78), the Subterranean Tropicália projects (1971), and the Quasicinemas (1969-75). Most importantly, this thesis retrieves primary accounts from a group of Oiticica's interlocutors and collaborators arguing that the dialogic and collaborative nature of his practice allows the retrieval of original insights into the work even when the artist himself is no longer alive. By bringing collaborators' voices to the fore, this collective exercise establishes a relationship with the genesis of the Cosmococa series and proposes a new framework for the study of this field.

The thesis is structured around three axes - Rio de Janeiro, London and New York - and examines how each context has influenced Oiticica's production in different ways leading to distinct types of collaboration.

The first chapter focuses on Oiticica's production in Rio between 1955 and 1968. The period covers the social-political shifts from the modernist utopian context of the construction of Brasilia, which was then eclipsed by the military coup of 1964, to the hardening of the regime through the Institutional Act Number 5, the infamous AI5, in 1968. It examines how MerleauPonty's phenomenology and Henri Bergson's notion of Duration influenced Oiticica's proposals Cães de Caça, Tropicália and Apocalipopótese over the course of the 1960s while considering Oiticica's dialogical exchanges with prominent intellectuals Mário Pedrosa, Ferreira Gullar and Frederico de Morais amongst others. It investigates the exhibitions Opinião 65, Opinião 66, Proposta 65, Proposta 66, Nova Objetividade Brasileira (1967) and Apocalipopótese (1968) arguing how these approached new artistic languages that sought to resist hegemonic cultural models.

The second chapter examines Oiticica's time in London and other locations during the course of 1969. It highlights the importance of Signals Gallery in connecting Brazilian artists to the London art scene and examines Eden, Oiticica's environmental proposition for his solo show at the Whitechapel Gallery. The chapter considers that the collective living experiences associated with the Exploding Galaxy group, the Symposium on Tactile Sculpture and Barracão-Cell 1 had substantially influenced Oiticica's subsequent investigations. It further argues that Barracão's original concept, which the artist revisited upon his return to Rio, would bridge the Rio and New York productions. Following the enactment of AI-5, the problematic relationship between politics and culture is explored by analysing two key exhibitions: Salão da Bússola (1969) and Do Corpo à Terra (1970). The chapter considers how new creative partnerships as well as Marshall McLuhan's theories of communication led Oiticica to incorporate new media, such as photography and film, which converged in the formulation of Quasi-Cinemas.

The third and final chapter focuses on Oiticica's production in New York between 1970 and 1978. Reflecting on the displacements in Oiticica's investigations, it discusses how he connected with Brazilian filmmakers, Manhattan's queer scene, social liberation movements, rock'n'roll and cocaine. It was during this period that he also embraced McLuhan and Marcuse theories of information and leisure. The thesis finally argues that the Babylonests forged a community that explored dialogic and collective modes of working, leading to a series of collaborative proposals such as the Subterranean Tropicalia Projects and the Quasi-cinema, from which the Cosmococas series emerged. ‘Appendix 1’ presents an artistic practice informed by Oiticica's production and theory, and ‘Appendix 2’ presents a series of conversations with Oiticica's collaborators.