Posted by Fabio 22 June 2012
Some years ago, an antique stereoscope was presented at one of Visionaire’s weekly brainstorm sessions, inspiring a maelstrom of ideas among the magazine’s editors. When the opportunity to focus an issue on Rio de Janeiro came along, Visionaire realized that stereoscopy provided the perfect format for the theme. A stereoscope allows the viewer to look at a slide made up of a simultaneous double-image of the same picture, creating a 3-D illusion of depth. In the nineteenth century, stereoscopes provided a primary source of imagery and news from faraway lands, and here, Visionaire 62: Rio takes a decidedly analogue approach to achieve the same mesmerizing effect, with a series of images by artists that interpret the city of Rio de Janeiro for 3-D viewing.
The issue comes with a stereoscope designed by Visionaire in collaboration with the product design company Aruliden, which is packaged together with the slides inside a lenticular case. Among the contributors are Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima photographed by the artist Richard Phillips; artist Marilyn Minter photographing supermodel Izabel Goulart; filmmaker Cary Fukunaga choreographing Capoeira; artist Marco Brambilla’s collages of Rio; Maurizio Cattelan and Lea T; a Tony Oursler installation photographed by Vicente de Paulo; Jason Schmidt’s portraits of Vik Miniz, Adriana Verajao and Eli Sudbrack; Solve Sundsbø with Brazilian parrots; Russian performance artist Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich on Ipanema Beach; and Brazilian photographer Gabriel Mendes. The issue comes in two different cases, designed by two of Brazil’s most famous artists: a 3D lenticular case by Fernando and Humberto Campana (Campana Brothers); and a mobile lenticular case by Beatriz Milhazes.