«Fabric non Fabric» – Igor Vidor at Schweizerische Textilfachschule [CH]

Through sculptures, performances, and videos, Igor Vidor [BR] discusses mechanisms of power, violence, and oppression, especially in the violent context of his native Brazil.

For his residency at STF, Schweizerische Textilfachschule [CH], he studied the possibilities of aramid fabric, a material used for bulletproofing that Vidor applies to his works. In sculptures such as «Beast-Beast» (that contain a collage with images found in shields and emblems of the military and civil police in Brazil) and «Teresa and the Moira» (a rope of twisted sheets intertwined with a lead thread), we can see the use of the material, which consists of a bulletproof mesh.

“Aramid is a very strong fabric, you need special equipment to make a cut or print on the material. My main focus, within such a short period of residency, was to find possibilities for handling the material. The key point was precisely the discovery of a substance that would keep the weft of the fabric intact when submitted to laser cutting,” says the artist.

The formal material investigation came as a way to discuss and denounce the so-called “protection business”. It’s a business that produces insecurity in order to sell protection, explains Vidor, whether by narratives in marketing campaigns, by lobby influences in politics, or even by the indirect financing of illegal paramilitary forces in different countries.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Igor Vidor explores mechanisms of power and oppression through his sculptures, performances, and videos. His works convey signs of violence and social injustice deeply rooted in everyday life. The artist reflects how these conditions repeat themselves, perpetuating symbols of violence that end up taking on new meanings. He allows us to reflect on how this friction contributes to a scenario of intermittent and seemingly insoluble violence that finds echoes and recurrence in the history of Brazil. His work has been featured in numerous international exhibitions in Brazil, Germany and the USA. In 2016, he was the first Brazilian invited to participate in the International Exchange Program by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul – MMCA. In 2019 he left Brazil, through the Martin Roth Initiative, after repeated death threats by paramilitary forces in the country.