Cosmococa/CC2 Onobject
1973
4 projectors, slides, fabric-covered foam, balls, cubes, cones, fabric-covered foam cylinders, soundtrack (Yoko Ono, telephone sound), audio equipment.
In the early 1970s, Hélio Oiticica worked with filmmaker Neville D'Almeida on the creation of a series of five pioneering installations (Quasi-Cinemas), known as BLOCO-EXPERIÊNCIAS inCOSMOCOCAS –- Programa in Progress. The name ”Cosmococa”, Invented by Neville, it is derived from the word "cocaine"—a psychoactive substance that alters the state of the mind, used here as makeup on the covers of books, records, and magazines, called "mancoquilagens" (a term used in Brazil to describe overly dramatic, often misleading, labels).
The term is a combination of the name Manco Cápac (founder of the Inca Empire, a culture that used the coca leaf, which is now the basis for cocaine production) – with the word maquila. These works constitute multisensory environments where the viewer is invited to participate.
The title Onobject combines a reference to the artist Yoko Ono and the word object (object, in English). The floor is covered with thick mattress foam that destabilizes the visitor's body, inducing movement. The space is occupied by geometric shapes in blue, red, and yellow, also made of foam, which can be freely used by the public.
Among the projected images are the "damaged" book covers. Grapefruit: a book of instructions and drawings (1964), by Yoko Ono;, What is a Thing (1962), by the philosopher Martin Heidegger; and Your Children (1973), by Charles Manson – leader of the cult that terrorized the US in 1969. The soundtrack consists of telephone sounds and music taken from the album Fly (1971), by Yoko Ono. This space is conducive to enjoyment and relaxation, like an invitation to surrender to the experience: jumping, dancing, having fun.