Abstract
Revolutions per Minute (RPM) is a research project focused on Brazilian sound art and its exploration of utopian possibilities. It examines how artists imagine and create ephemeral challenges to the power structures that shape everyday life. RPM redefines utopia as an ongoing process—one of challenging, subverting, and transforming the status quo. Rather than a fixed endpoint, it is a collective praxis aimed at forging new horizons for societies to strive toward. Art and music are positioned as transformative forces capable of shaping futures by activating latent potentials in the present. This task is particularly urgent given today’s crisis of imagination, which limits our ability to envision alternative futures.
Using an interdisciplinary methodology that includes fieldwork, interviews, art criticism, performance, and sound studies, RPM will showcase a selection of artists whose works envision alternative worlds and foster communities of self-care. Featured artists include André Damião, Bartira, Paulo Bruscky, Paola Ribeiro, Lílian Campesato, Natália Francischini, Paula Garcia, Vanessa De Michelis, Vivian Caccuri, Raquel Stolf, Ricardo Basbaum, and Ton Bezerra. The project will introduce new voices while also building on Chaves’ previous research, which examines the ethical and political ethos of Brazilian sound art.
RPM aligns with a growing focus in Portuguese academia on Brazilian culture, society, politics, and history. This focus not only highlights Brazil’s rich cultural diversity but also underscores its geopolitical significance and its critical epistemologies for shaping a better global future. Brazil’s long history of resistance to colonialism, environmental destruction, neoliberal policies, and authoritarianism makes it a vital context for exploring the intersection of art and social change.
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