Imagine taking a stroll through the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro, enjoying breathtaking views of the natural landscape that embraces the city. While visiting the famous Parque Lage you notice an unusual structure inside the central Palace. When you dare to enter the tiny citadel, everything is covered in plastic and overtly orange. You’ve been lured in by the art collective known as Penique Productions.

The duo builds customized inflatable balloons that fit and fill their chosen venue, guerrilla style:

Penique Productions appropriates the original site that loses its routine to become part of the work getting a new identity. The balloon acts as a border and frames a new space. The container is also the content blurring the idea of the art object.

The beauty of this site specific lies in numerous factors: the invasion of space by a vessel that manages to alter the perception of a visitor but does not harm the building in any way; it denies the original textures to shower it with a homogeneous quality; and finally, it works as conceptual exercise in reduction and simplification.

It is a variation of minimalism when a classic building, filled with details and adornments, finds itself streamlined down to its bare visual and architectonic elements. Only the essential is showcased to the audience.

Visitors should consider themselves lucky to witness it live, as every installation is intentionally ephemeral. Keep an eye out for a large balloon inside a building.

Photography by João Duayer.