Coimbra Connections
Coimbra Connections (2012, 3 minutes, 3-channel video animation installation)
Coimbra Connections, inspired by Burns’s direct observations, discoveries, and experiences of Coimbra during his artist in residency in Portugal, explores Coimbra’s nature and architecture and how they connect with its people’s dynamic social and cultural life. Coimbra, one of Portugal’s oldest cities and its former capital, is experiencing a cultural transformation; traditional acoustic Fado folk music and 5th century architecture are contemporaneously juxtaposed with electronic dance music and contemporary buildings and bridges that are transforming Coimbra’s green landscapes. Through an animated series of abstract virtual Calçadas, inlaid, mosaic sidewalks, Coimbra Connections reflects the tensions between technology and nature in Coimbra’s culture.