Architecture is Stage and Inspiration for Visual Landscapes of Argentina’s Al Ver Verás
Photos by Axel Eandi and Emilce Fernandez
One of Buenos Aires’ most striking architectural landmarks—the Italian-built Palacio Barolo, with a design modeled after the structure of Dante’s Divine Comedy—is both stage and canvas in the latest collaboration by Al Ver Verás. It’s not the first time that the Argentinian artist collective has taken up temporary residence on a rooftop, using the surrounding buildings and walls as the nighttime stage for their signature pop-up show.
The group calls the genre “music to watch”—in short, it involves projections of light, art, and images that seem to dance across the skyline to the rhythm of their original score, performed live. But they custom-design a new show for each setting, and the Palacio Barolo, once the tallest building in South America, is their grandest stage yet.
We caught a viewing of their latest open-air spectacle, performed before a crowd of hundreds on a terrace high above Avenida de Mayo, the elegant Parisian-style avenue that runs through the heart of the city. Afterward, we sat down with the only female member of the seven-person group, Martina Fraguela, to talk about artistic collaboration, a fateful turn on French television, and the surprising creative potential of an overhead projector.
Paste: Tell us about Al Ver Verás. How did the project begin?
Martina Fraguela: Al Ver Verás was founded nine years ago when Daniel Selén and Diego Gentile, two friends who grew up together in Buenos Aires, started experimenting with combinations of music and images.
I met Daniel after that. Now he’s my partner both personally and creatively. From the time I met him, I participated in the project in small ways. But I officially joined the collective five years ago, at the same time as Maxi, the percussionist. Later, we added Ale, the saxophonist, and then Axel, the bass player.
Paste: What’s your role in the creative team?
Fraguela: Dani and I work together on the projected visuals. We each approach visuals in a different language. He tackles the digital image, while I work with the analog or “artisanal,” as I like to call it. I use overhead projectors—the image on these devices is static, so in order to create movement, I have to be interacting with the images in real time. I have to perform live.
People like to see the images projected onto the buildings, of course. But generally speaking, they’re also interested in seeing how the images move through the projector. How the materials go into this old artifact, and how they come out of it. The overhead projectors are like small stages in themselves.
