The Big Wave Raquel Garbelotti and Murillo Paoli

By transforming the architecture of Casa de Cultura do Parque into the setting of a fictional narrative, multimedia artist Raquel Garbelotti (São Paulo, 1973) and architect Murillo Paoli (Vitória, 1996) present a 3D video in which water invades and virtually submerges the building. With a critical text by Fernanda Pitta, The Big Wave constructs a situation that operates simultaneously as projection, warning, and investigation.

The technical tool of architectural modeling—used in the fields of science and technology to predict structural behavior—is shifted into the artistic realm through a methodological inflection by Garbelotti, translating scientific data and projections into a sensory experience. Rather than simply depicting a catastrophe, the work adopts a logic akin to forensic investigation, inviting the viewer to take on the role of investigator of a hypothetical event.

The sonic dimension is incorporated through the sound of water on the deck, broadcast via external audio, acting as a residual trace of an event whose materialization remains uncertain. “The contemporary climate crisis is often addressed in statistical, abstract terms. By simulating flooding with technical precision, the artist transforms data and projections into a sensory experience. The forensic methodology materializes the hypothesis, giving form to the prognosis,” says Fernanda Pitta.