The 2013-2015 Vancouver Biennale will be about much more than public art; public art as most know it. With this next exhibition, over 60 artists from around the world will become immersed in the Vancouver lifestyle, in  four to eight week residencies over a fifteen month period. They will be charged with creating ‘a public work’ in the streets, parks, transit stations, buses and sky trains throughout the partnering Metro Vancouver communities in a variety of artistic mediums and practices. Sound artists, performance artists, video artists, architects and composers will work side by side in celebration of the 2013-2015 Biennale theme of Open Borders/ X Roads Vancouver.  Founder Barrie Mowatt says, “Imagine the possibilities and expect the unexpected.”  It is with this in mind that he recently took the opportunity to connect with Brazilian sound artist, Paulo Vivacqua in his studio in Rio de Janeiro.

Paulo Vivacqua has gained widespread recognition for his investigations in sound art. His mixed media installations fuse together their environments creating invisible pathways through which sound can tell its own unique story. Vivacqua’s work has appeared in a number of biennales around the world including Mercusol, Montevideo, and Sao Paulo, as well as the Sculpture Center in New York City and the Omi Sculpture Park in Ghent, New York.

If you’re interested in learning more about Paulo Vivacqua’s artistic practice, you can watch his mixed media installation Deserto, 2006 or check out Triple Ohm, 2011 on Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary’s website.