Annacarsi: Annacandosi Piastrelle

DeBlassie discovered the book, “L'arte di annacarsi. Un viaggio in Sicilia” by Roberto Alajmo at the Bridge Art Residency. There are many definitions of “annacarsi” in Sicilian, but the one she references is “all talk and no action.” This is the perfect expression for the human impact on the environment and our relationship to sustainability. There is an awareness of the damage created and yet little concrete action is ever taken. For this reason, DeBlassie made work connected to humankinds’ interaction between land and sea. She collected tossed-out tiles that had eroded on the Marzamemi seaside and applied crochet techniques—learned from locals from Noto—to put them together using twine to mimic both a fisherman’s net and the form of dried Sicilian cacti. The form of the sculptural installation mimics the organic form of a cactus. DeBlassie has continued to collect more tiles in Italy, since they are thrown out everywhere in nature and cities and the work continues to grow. Tiles are also a metaphor for how humans extract natural resources only to mindlessly discard them afterwards, not taking into consideration the potential environmental harm it may cause. Her approach to creating a sustainable future is to be resourceful and reuse what we already have and to be like a cactus: survive on little. In this work, there is also a clear connection to making what is needed by hand, an act that would eliminate the over-production of unnecessary objects. By questioning systems of value and labour, DeBlassie expands on her recent inquiries into the tension between the inconvenience of the handmade and convenience of faster modes of production in relation to our environment. With a worldwide and environmental need for sustainable materials and modes of production, it is a vital time to emphasize the cultural and ecological value of craft and creative reuse of materials and accentuate the importance of environmental wellbeing as a human right and the responsibility entailed on every human to maintain it. 

*Exhibition note: It is important to note that the work can be viewed both on the floor (as a floor sculpture) or on a wall (as a relief sculpture) or both as the same time.