Troca troca

Trips, shared experiences, and movement are constantly present in Jarbas Lopes’s work. Troca-troca [Swapping, 2002] is an artwork composed of three Volkswagen Beetles that have swapped multicolored body parts among themselves. All the cars share the same sound system. In 2002, Jarbas Lopes traveled in the three cars of Troca-troca from Rio de Janeiro to Curitiba. The artist invited eight friends along on a trip that ended with their arrival at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea do Paraná. On the way, they fastened stickers featuring palindromes from the collection of artist Luis Andrade on the windshields of cars they met on the highway. In 2007, after being restored, the Troca-troca cars hit the road again, this time traveling from Belo Horizonte to Brumadinho, after passing through the surrounding communities. Parked once again in the garden of Inhotim, the car/objects hold the stories of these travels, the friends that occupied them, and the songs they listened to together. Although the cars are parked, their motors are ready to be started up (in 2012 the artist did another tour in Brumadinho) while they are shown in different sites throughout the park.