The “Excitáveis”—works created by the Brazilian artist Sérvulo Esmeraldo (b. 1929)—are the result of his experiments with the electrostatic properties of the human body and things in our immediate environment. They are cases or boxes containing certain materials that can be charged with static energy and that start to move when they come in contact with the human body, either spontaneously or when they are programmed to do so.
Esmeraldo’s work became well-known during the 1950s and 1960s as a result of his experiments with electrostatic energy, which contributed to both kinetic and constructive art. He was a printmaker and illustrator at the Correio Paulistano newspaper, and founded the Museu de Gravura in his home town in 1956. In 1957 he was awarded a scholarship by the French government to study lithography at the École Nationale Superieure de Beaux-Arts, and did not return to Brazil for another twenty years.
In reference to this matter, see by Olívio Tavares de Araújo, “Trilogia: sobre a chegada de Sérvulo ao livro-objeto (onde também se fala do binômio de Newton)”, (São Paulo: Gabinete de Artes Gráficas, 1976) [doc. no. 1110763]; and by Sérvulo Esmeraldo, L’idée et la matière (exh. cat.; Paris: Galerie Denise René, 1974) [doc. no. 1110761], and “Método prático e ilustrado para construir um excitável, precedido de uma notícia sobre eletricidade estática”, in Volume 8. ColleXtion (Antwerp/Paris: Guy Schraenen Éditeur, 1976) [doc. no. 1110762].