Dó

Dó is an audio/visual synthesis between a dual screen video installation and a sound installation which was developed in collaboration with the Portuguese-Cape Verdean rapper/music composer Chullage. The video depicts a dancer gazing at the city from the top of the “Book building” in Luanda. This building which resembles a book, is emblematic of iconic modernist architecture from the 1960s. The scenario is interlaced with sound and footage of a string orchestra performing a discontinuous piece in multiple locations such as ruined spaces. The musicians search for the correct chord. “Symphony of the city in a single note” (Dó), was composed in the tradition of the symphonic films of Dziga Vertov (Man with a movie Camera) and Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire). The 9-minute film is an observation of the past and present history of Luanda and the ways in which it is currently transforming. The characters alternate between appearing as integral parts of the whole, or mere observers of history.