Laura Vinci's Máquinas do Mundo and the translation in the creative process

Abstract

This article starts from Michael Fried's statement in "Art and objecthood" (1967) that what lies between the arts is theatre. Turning the hypothesis of the critic inside out – he suggested it in a negative way –, we point out this fluid and hybrid characteristic of theatre as the path taken by many contemporary artists in significant works. Based on this premise, the article aims to reconstitute – mainly from interviews – a long creation process centered on the figure of Brazilian artist Laura Vinci, a visual artist who is also involved in theatrical processes. We start with Máquina do Mundo (in the singular), a work in the field of visual arts, reaching the performing arts with Máquinas do Mundo (in the plural), created by the artist together with mundana companhia (a theatre company). For such reconstitution, we mainly rely on the concepts of translation, by Josette Féral, and work in progress, by Renato Cohen.