Alexandre Dacosta & Lucília de Assis

25^th part of the First Rio City Aesthetic Marathon (concep): 2.411 kilometers in 40:51 minutes – completed on Saturday, April 16^th 2016, in the quarter Centro (overall map). The artist Lucília de Assis (*1961) lives in Rio de Janeiro (more about her). The artist Alexandre da Costa (*1959) lives in Rio de Janeiro (more about him).

Why did you choose this part to represent Rio de Janeiro at the First Rio City Aesthetic Marathon?

Lucília Assis: I selected the area of the Saara because it is so hot and there is a crowd of people. Since childhood days I come here and run through these streets. My mother took me from my fortress, a residential area in Niterói that did not offer many possibilities. She came with me to this shopping quarter which is very favourable, the money you need fits in every purse, in every pocket, in everybodys waist belt, even in the socks. I had a lot of fun here. We decorated our house with things of the Saara, we made our own things, our styling was very much marked by the Saara. Untill today! In my house you find a lot from the Saara. Moreover, this area accommodates the theatre João Caetano which has determined my artistic life because I had no artist in the family, but my mother brought me to the theatre and there I saw a piece and was fascinated and wanted to follow this path as well. I think the Saara is very creative. Whoever has an artistic feeling, can get a lot of material from here, not only aesthetically, but also the sounds from here. Shop assistants use microphones and generally speak a lot. We reached the cultural centre Hélio Oiticica, a place we often visit. In the Gentil Carioca where we started our walking tour, we visit the art vernissages, the openings, we celebrate there, stay there, drink beer. And this here, the Hélio Oiticica, opens right now; an unbelievable guy who left his legacy here. This is it. It has to do with emotions, art deals with feelings. I think that´s why I came here to the Saara.

Alexandre Dacosta: It is very stimulating! It is a place of full sounds, colours and materials. I make visual poetry, and I can find unbelievable poetry in these streets, in the shops, on the crossroads, in the people, also in their facial expression. Normally I come here to buy some material or to dive into this poetry, into this world of sounds, into this visual ocean that you can find here. I have a programme for radio, it is called the Rádio Varejo, where I present my poetry and my music, a lot of it I got from here. I come here with a record device and collect tones, sentences of the shop assistants, the street shop assistants. It is also a place of collecting. Of recording and collecting sensitive material.

Lucília Assis: I think that everybody should have a training period here in the Saara to train his eye. It is a training of the eye to be able to select. It is a visual flood, so that you are forced to select, to pick the essentials. This is your job. It has opened!

Alexandre Dacosta: Want to come inside?

Lucília Assis:

Your favourite art place?
The museums MAM (Museu de Arte Moderna), the MAR (Museu de Arte do Rio), the CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil) and Caixa Econômica. Wonderful places that accommodate very good exhibitions. They connect leisure with information.

Your favourite shop in Rio?
The bookstore Livraria da Travessa which you can find in different quarters of town. Whenever I enter one of them, time increases and life happens.

Your favourite restaurant in Rio – and what should you order there?
Nik Sushi in the Rua Garcia D´Ávila in Ipanema. The family meets for Yakimeshi with shrimps and the rest is pure joy!

Alexandre da Costa:

Your favourite art place?
EAV – Escola de artes visuais in the Parque Lage, the CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil), the MAM (Museu de Arte Moderna) and the MAR (Museu de Arte do Rio) – stimulating abbreviations.

Your favourite shop in Rio?
I never enter shops, only when it is really necessary.

Your favourite restaurant in Rio – and what should you order there?
The restaurant Fontes in Ipanema. The food is organic, healthy and very tasty.

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