Isadora Nocchi Martins
Sangue não é água
Sangue não é água came to life through an experience with death and grief.
My grandfather passed away at 99 years old in April 2020, and when my father started emptying his house, he’d send me photos of things he found that were interesting or quirky. It struck to me how small and mundane objects could speak so much about who my grandfather was, and I started to wonder how everyday moments shape us in ways we don’t even realize. At the same time, some objects told details of my grandfather’s life that we didn’t know of. I couldn’t let all that go to waste, and that is how this project began.
Through a deeply personal and almost archaeological process of digging into and excavating around my grandfather history, I curated an audiovisual archive that includes physical objects, photographs, audios and memories. With my archive in hand, I then composed 6 audiovisual compositions, which are an invitation to the audioviewer to walk around my grandfather’s house and life with me one last time. Compositional inspirations vary from beat based genres to musiqué concréte, with visual references ranging from concrete poetry to photographers from various historical moments and contemporary visual artists.
Although this project might seem to be about death and specific to my own experience, I don’t think it is. I see it as about life, and I believe most people will relate directly or subjectively to the addressed themes. I’d like to invite you, the audioviewer, to join me in this journey through the life of a complex and sometimes contradictory human, whose history helped shape my own. I hope it will allow you to reflect on and heal from your own familial wounds, whilst acknowledging the beauty of small moments and of our complexities.
If you’d like to read the whole text detailing my process, references, methodology, compositions and thoughts, please find it here.
Sangue não é água can be seen as a whole in the video, with a detailed track list below:
Álvaro Alvim, 269 (00:00)
Lunch Room (04:22)
Office I (09:41)
Office II (14:47)
Gym (20:01)
Orchidarium (25:39)
About Isadora Nocchi Martins
Isadora Nocchi Martins – sometimes referred to as Zazá – is a London based Brazilian sound artist who enjoys working in artistic intersections and exploring different work possibilities. Experienced as a guitarist, producer, composer, performer and researcher, in her solo work Isadora is interested in introspection and vulnerability as key parts of the artist process and result. With a degree in Popular Music and a Masters in Creative Practice, her sonic work draws heavily on noise and sound art practices, blurring its boundaries with popular music, mixing electric guitar pedals with field recordings, beats and personally meaningful spoken texts. More recent works have included new explorations of audiovisual compositions using various techniques.
E-mail: isadoranmartins@gmail.com
Instagram: @isazaza13