Brazilian-born artist Manuel Lima today began his 10-day residency in “The Cube” on Santa Monica Boulevard, an interactive performance piece that is part of the City of West Hollywood’s Art on the Outside program.
Lima will live in a 10-foot-wide square translucent structure that is temporarily constructed around a shade tree, containing a piano and strings of red light bulbs. In it, he will integrate original music and light compositions with daily life and interactions with passers-by, in order to create an ever-evolving performance that culminates in a final recital on the evening of the tenth day.
Lima’s life within “The Cube” will run through Aug. 21. The Cube is located in the city public parking lot at 8775 Sunset Blvd. just east of Horn Avenue.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day — following a shower, breakfast and a run (his only time away from The Cube except for short meals and rest breaks) — Lima will perform his “Sunset Blvd.” composition, repeatedly moving the dial on FM radio from left to right, and improvising five-minute piano segments based on what he hears. From 5 to 7 p.m. each day, he will break for tea just outside The Cube so that people may join him and engage in conversation.
Beginning at about 8 p.m. each day, after a dinner break, Lima will perform “Red Light Piano,” an original light and sound composition with variations increasing in length through successive days in The Cube. At about midnight, he will sleep within The Cube.
A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Lima recently earned his Performer-Composer Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where his studies were fully funded by the Brazilian government. Lima conducted a 10-day trial for The Cube in spring 2016 in the Val Verde hills in Valencia, CA. Lima expects that the West Hollywood-based performance will cause him to experience a profound personal and creative transformation, due to the nature of The Cube’s very public, urban space.
