“Rhizomatic Spiral”
Installation of six plaster sculptures that hold glazed ceramic whistles attached by a metal chain with ceramic bids
Whistle Composition 1: 96 x 34 x 18 cm
Whistle Composition 2: 82,5 x 30 x 20 cm
Whistle Composition 3: 72 x 35 x 25 cm
Whistle Composition 4: 100 x 60 x 20 cm
Whistle Composition 5: 72, 5 x 52 x 18 cm
Whistle Composition 6: 72,5 x 52 x 18 cm
The presented work is part of my latest solo exhibition that took place in Rome from July to September of 2023. The piece, central to the show is a spiral; to return, to grasp the urgent need to rediscover our inherent bond with nature and the transformative potential it holds for our personal and collective growth. It was activated by six performers during the show opening, and then recorded and edited as a video performance piece. It is meant to evoke that the spiral shape has no end nor beginning, and it's intrinsic to the physiology of every natural being. A shape that moves in every direction, though we are limited to perceive it only as linear growth.
This spiral consists on six plaster sculptures that emulate natural volcanic formations, each one unique, as the residue of the earth's heart beat, composed by time and erosion. The six are attached by a metal chain with ceramic bids, seeming to have trapped something on its way ashore, and at the same time serving to delimit the structure, while separating the inside and outside of a containment mechanism. Functioning as pedestals, on top of each sculpture there is a glazed ceramic whistle, which shape is inspired by organic lines and biomorphic forms from the plant and sea worlds.
The activation of this piece required the performers to play and rearrange the whistles, to create a sense of movement, a direction for the spiral. An activation of an (un)known territory that is constant though disregarded, the space that emerges whilst being present. An infinite choreography that was only performed once, but on its essence, it's meant to keep going, and it does its job by working as a starting engine of a finite automata machine.
The ceramic whistle enhances this connection by producing meditative sounds that evoke a sense of tranquility and oneness. A moment of reflection, a suspended longing melancholia. Through its evocative sounds and enchanting design, the whistles grant the capacity to open windows to new possibilities and realms of perception.
What I would like to present is the complete spiral installation, accompanied by the video piece of the first performance. In addition, I would like to showcase a new series of performances that involve the materials (spiral and whistles) from the installation, and further include the use of electric synthesizers to maintain the continuous sound. In doing so, I look to explore different ways in which one physical piece can be activated— emanating a concept of infinite play, an abyss of possibilities of fulfilling interactions, all that suggest and exist in the ‘fata morgana’ momentum created by the transformation of a spiral into a vortex through human touch(connection) horizontal involvement.
The performer becomes a rhizome, part of the same network of the plaster or ceramic sculptures, and invites the viewer to become one too, to let oneself embrace the movement, be the process, the roots that spiral in, and out, like breathing, like the wind, to habituate as AND and FROM, not WITH and FOR, and be part of the assemblage that is life, within each and as a whole.
