Breaking to recompose
Breaking
Salso, november 23st 2023
From the next morning when I “landed” in NYC I received as a “gift” a song, I don’t remember how, but “Get Lucky” was playing in my head without me being able to do anything about it. I was standing at an intersection in Manhattan watching the subway smoke coming out of the manholes, so many people all energetic, everything all of a sudden seemed energetic, the smoke, the people crossing, the stopped taxi driver, the speeding cyclists, the signs and reflections, in that chaos the condensed energy. I felt as if I had met a kindred spirit and was at home like never anywhere else, and it was that city.
Stopped at the traffic light and without thinking too much about it I downloaded the whole album.
With “Get Lucky” on high definition looping in my ears I dove into that stream. Without paying attention to all the lyrics, just listening to what it gave me. This piece, even now, represents being present to oneself with every cell, it is a climax in one’s life. Being aware of it and enjoying it was my only rule during those days.
Today I thought about reading the lyrics and only just realized that it is a love song between two people. I burst out laughing, and I’m still crying.
Tomorrow morning I’ll be on the plane to Spain, I’m going to open the exhibition “Breaking to recompose,” and it only comes full circle now. I certain emotions I cannot explain to you, I cannot describe why I make art, I only know that I need it like air. I do not tell you about photography because it is only the language I master best to express and interpret reality. Not at all casual, not at all unconscious.
Oh yes, do you know what the album is called?
“Random Access Memories” by Daft Punk.
Salso, 23 nov 2023
Dalla mattina dopo in cui “atterrai” a NYC ricevetti in “dono” una canzone, non ricordo come, ma “Get Lucky” mi suonava in testa senza che potessi farci nulla. Ero ferma ad un incrocio a Manhattan e guardavo il fumo della metro uscire dai tombini, tanta gente tutta energica, tutto di colpo sembrava energico, il fumo, chi attraversava, il tassista fermo, i ciclisti che sfrecciavano, le insegne e i riflessi, in quel caos l’energia condensata. Mi sono sentita come se avessi incontrato uno spirito affine e fossi a casa come mai da nessuna parte, ed era quella città.
Ferma al semaforo e senza pensarci troppo scaricai tutto l’album.
Con “Get Lucky” ad alta definizione in loop nelle orecchie mi tuffai in quel flusso. Senza fare caso a tutto il testo, ascoltando quel che mi dava. Questo pezzo, anche adesso, rappresenta l’essere presenti a se stessi con ogni cellula, è un climax nella propria vita. Esserne consapevoli e goderne era la mia unica regola durante quei giorni.
Oggi leggevo il testo e ho capito solo adesso che è una canzone d’amore tra due persone. Sono scoppiata a ridere, e sto ancora piangendo.
Domattina sarò sull’aereo per la Spagna, vado a inaugurare la mostra “Breaking to recompose” e il cerchio si chiude solo adesso. Io certe emozioni non ve le so spiegare, non so descrivere perché faccio arte, so solo che ne ho bisogno come dell’aria. Non vi parlo di fotografia perché è solo il linguaggio che io padroneggio meglio per esprime ed interpretare la realtà. Per niente casuale, per nulla inconsapevole.
Ah sì, sapete come si chiama l’album?
“Random Access Memories” dei Daft Punk
If you want to try to listen to the song while looking at the pictures press the link:
Landed
My birthday
Lincoln Blades – Ice Stadium
Mall
Uncle Lino
From the home window
– Washington Heights
“Like the legend of the phoenix, huh
All ends with beginnings
…”
Roof top
“…
We’ve come too far
To give up who we are
… “
The hive
“…
So let’s raise the bar
And our cups to the stars
… “
Nature “and the Great Gray Bridge”
Brealking to recompose
Silver Dream
Live on top
“…
We’re up all night to get luckyWe’re up all night to get luckyWe’re up all night to get lucky
…”
Comunity garden
“…
We’re up all night to get luckyWe’re up all night to get luckyWe’re up all night to get lucky
…”
The flower market
“…
We’re up all night to get luckyWe’re up all night to get luckyWe’re up all night to get lucky
…”
Spring time
Enlightening the World
Chelsea
The urban Jungle, Bronx
untitled
I’m going to my friend who moved to Greenwich (near NYC) with 2 little children. The friends is so enthusiastic of the new life and tell me this enthusiasm. During the trip to meet them i have my camera in my hand and test it. I take only 1 picture of this small trip, this. I think this is the natural resume of my sensation. Here and now
Morris-Jumel Community Garden
This image is part of the last roll of film taken in NY, and developed in Italy. While I was in NY I had only one photographic trail I was following: the relationship we have with greenery in a metropolis. Morris-Jumel Community Garden, is part of a network of largely “squashed” urban gardens, spaces painstakingly recaptured by neighborhoods that are entirely managed by enthusiasts who care for them and keep them alive. They are not freely visitable have schedules that depend on volunteers so it was not easy to visit them, plus there is often a ban on free photography inside.
The Garden Lady
On my last day in NY, as I was going back to get my suitcase I was very overthinking already focused on my return and I missed the subway stop, I didn’t even notice until I got to the street and there walking and searching with my eyes for a reference I noticed the garden. It was open, I went in, took a few pictures.
After a few minutes a woman with a radiant presence approached me. She asked me where I was from and when I answered she said in Italian “I lived many years in Italy… ” “… then I came back here, where I was born.”
Being able to enter there when I was no longer expecting it. Meeting her. Her posed portrait.
Crossing the garden when I now thought I would not be able to visit any.
Meeting the garden lady and taking her portrait in the open air.
Of the rest of the trip I no longer remember anything, not even the airport I left from.
“I used to travel on one-way tickets.
I loved going home, but I was waiting for chance or necessity to bring me back.
Then I shattered my reflection.
I exploded into a multitude.
I touched the meaning of living beyond the limits of my little dreams,
discovering a picture of me I had not imagined.
I explored my roots and emotional ties and drew boundaries for gratitude and due.
I learned to demand more from everything around me. An ongoing and inconstant exercise.
In the multitude I discovered traces of the family I wanted when I returned. “
“Viaggiavo con biglietti solo andata.
Amavo tornare a casa, ma aspettavo che fosse il caso o le necessità a riportarmici.
Ho mandato in frantumi il mio riflesso e sono esplosa in una moltitudine.
Ho toccato il significato di vivere al di là dei limiti dei miei piccoli sogni,
scoprendo un’immagine di me che non immaginavo.
Ho esplorato le mie radici e i miei legami affettivi e tracciato i confini per la gratitudine e il dovuto.
Ho imparato a pretendere di più da tutto ciò che avevo attorno. Un esercizio continuo e incostante.
Nella moltitudine ho scoperto le tracce della famiglia che volevo al mio ritorno. ”
art installation details
“Breaking to recompose” consists of a series of images made in 2016. The installation splora the theme of transformation and self-revelation through a symbolic act: the breaking of one’s reflection. An act that symbolizes the fracture of limited perceptions of oneself. An act that causes an explosion, giving rise to a multitude of new possibilities and perspectives.
The author, reflects on the meaning of living beyond the limits of one’s narrow dreams. She faces a process of personal growth and broadening of perspectives, revealing a previously unimagined self-image. The act of exploring roots and emotional ties suggests an in-depth analysis of one’s identity and the connections that influence life. The demarcation of boundaries for gratitude and what is owed expresses an awareness of mutual responsibilities and connections.
In the context of a multitude, there emerges a search for the traces of the chosen and desired family upon return, suggesting a desire for connection and belonging.
To demand more from one’s surroundings depends on the need to change one’s mode of action. The aspiration for a higher level of demands on one’s surroundings is a real commitment to more complete self-actualization and a more meaningful life.
“Breaking to recompose” is a journey of self-exploration, transformation and gaining awareness of one’s relationships and environment.
The photographic language appears documentary, as in other works of the author in which the photography always winks at the reality of the facts, at the evidence before our eyes, yet all moments are arbitrary, meaningful in retrospect, climaxes chosen years apart and changing in value and meaning from time to time along with the context of the exhibition.
Do not think that you are facing the truth, rather a truth.
“Breaking to recompose” è composta da una serie di immagini realizzate nel 2016. L’installazione splora il tema della trasformazione e dell’auto-rivelazione attraverso un atto simbolico: la rottura del proprio riflesso. Un gesto che simboleggia la frattura delle percezioni limitate di sé stessi. Un atto che provoca un’esplosione, dando vita a una moltitudine di nuove possibilità e prospettive.
L’autrice, riflette sul significato di vivere al di là dei limiti dei propri sogni ristretti. Affronta un processo di crescita personale e di allargamento delle prospettive, rivelando un’immagine di sé che precedentemente non era stata immaginata. L’atto di esplorare le radici e i legami affettivi suggerisce un’analisi approfondita della propria identità e delle connessioni che influenzano la vita. La demarcazione dei confini per la gratitudine e ciò che è dovuto, esprime una consapevolezza delle responsabilità e dei legami reciproci.
Nel contesto di una moltitudine, emerge la ricerca delle tracce della famiglia scelta e desiderata al ritorno, suggerendo un desiderio di connessione e appartenenza.
Pretendere di più da ciò che ci circonda, dipende dalla necessità di cambiare la propria modalità di azione. L’aspirazione a un livello più elevato di esigenze nei confronti dell’ambiente circostante, è un vero e proprio impegno verso un’auto-realizzazione più completa e una vita più significativa.
“Breaking to recompose” è un viaggio di auto-esplorazione, trasformazione e acquisizione di consapevolezza delle proprie relazioni e del proprio ambiente.
Il linguaggio fotografico appare documentativo, come in altri lavori dell’autrice in cui la fotografia ammicca sempre alla realtà dei fatti, alle evidenze davanti ai nostri occhi, eppure tutti i momenti sono arbitrari, significativi a posteriori, climax scelti ad anni di distanza e che cambiano di valore e significato di volta in volta assieme al contesto dell’esposizione.
Non pensate di avere davanti la verità, piuttosto una verità.