O ovo

Synopsis

Lygia Pape created O ovo in 1967 and showed it in the group exhibition Apocalipopótese, held at Aterro de Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro in 1969. The work consisted of three cubes made of wooden boards, with each side covered with a layer of blue, red, or white plastic film. The participant would enter the structure through the open bottom side of the cube and push the film/skin in order to simulate the act of being born. Before showing the work, the artist herself entered one of the cubes. She described her experience: "You are trapped inside, covered by a sort of membrane; when you push on it with your hand, the membrane starts to give and suddenly tears, and so you are born: you stick your head out of the hole and roll on out." After the military coup d'état in Brazil in 1964, Pape devoted most of her practice to film and continued to make experimental films into the 1970s.