Casa del Tempo (House of Time) is a project of audiovisual art installation which reflects on the themes of ruins and contemporary landscape, on our belonging to a human and natural territory which mirrors who we are, while giving us an outlook on the potential future land we will live in.
The video shows abandoned buildings, of whatever age and nature: industries, hospitals, houses, theatres or villas, and engages the viewer, who finds himself in front of recognisable places and elements, yet corrupted by time and absence, the latter witnessed by the traces, instead, of a past presence.
Sound is fundamental in building a link between the bystander and what he is looking at, which is apparently telling something about him; it shows him how involved he is in that process of decline, of loss. What the viewer hears is barely recognisable, just as the images in front of him, which speak of something that belongs both to nature and man, without making it clear on who overcame the other. Sometimes it seems that nature wants to take back what belongs to it by right; sometimes instead, it seems that artificial life is determined to endure and let us see how even the most rotten brick preserves the strength to come back to life, to grow into something new or to repeat its history.
Italy’s abandoned places which still survive are history treasure chests, cages suspended in time, where one can experience days going by; they’re unique time reserves. Nowadays, on the contrary, buildings are not made to get old but to be eternally replaceable - malls, airports, the “cities” - and to always remain the same, packed and familiar. Ruins, instead, through the awareness of absence and lack, are unique and make us reflect, they give us the opportunity to make up for our lost humbleness when facing time and things.
The House of time is made of three white tulle screens installed on a square structure made of metal scaffolding pipes, to simulate a real room. On each screen, a projector will show the images of the video. Inside the House, a single viewer per time will be able to wear headphones and listen, while people outside will not only see the images on the screens but will also get to see who’s watching the videos from the inside. The floor in the House can be covered by stones and ruins, in order to make fruition as uncomfortable and as immersive as possible.
