Lights for democracy: lighting as a tool for Brazilian political protests

Abstract: This paper investigates the role of artificial light as a tool for spread a political message, focusing on Brazilian political scenario. Given the recent context of the weakening of many democratic institutions around the world together with Covid-19 pandemic, new ways of protesting have been transforming the character of political demonstrations. The aim is to identify which tools are being used in Brazil for this purpose and to comprehend what is the future of light protests. First, an analysis of how light has been incorporated into political art is briefly described. Then, some recent political protests around the world in which light was used in different ways are presented. After an overview of the use of light in contemporaneity, the research focus on Brazilian protest scene using three light tools: drones, lasers and projectors.  The research methodology is conducted through case studies of works by five artists combined with interviews with artists, projection collectives and academic experts. The results show that the pandemic in Brazil along with political mismanagement, triggered a massive wave of projections throughout the country. What before the pandemic had already gained strength, after the year 2020 took on a larger dimension. As a result, projections became popular to the extent that workshops were held in low-income communities to teach people how to build projectors with flashlights and paper. Another aspect raised during the research is that lasers have taken hold and tend to become more popular in the coming years. There is no Brazilian national legislation for the use of lasers, projectors and drones in cities during protest situations, as the laws are in each individual state. Given this growth in the use of these lighting tools, a national law may be created.