Mercurio
Mercury, the smallest and innermost planet in the solar system.
A word used to describe an unpredictable, lively, fickle behavior.
A silvery element, a liquid metal.
The day I started my quarantine, March 18th till the date I started to travel, May 30th, I took pictures of my backyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We were just coming out of a long New York winter and it ended when the garden was at its best, with flowers, fruits and bird’s nests.
Through my work I wanted to represent the move towards a new spring, convey a sense of positivity. It is a call for people to have faith in a process. Small changes that day by day, will eventually take us to a new season; a better present.
We had to live in small spaces, no travels were feasible. We had to start to look within ourselves, our walls; to start to make out of our ordinary, something extraordinary.
Two months are a short time but they felt long. They even felt longer when I realized how many things happened to my garden, how many flowers bloomed and then wilted on the ground; windy days and stormy and then sunny days; different species of birds, of parasites, of plants; we always move fast and think big, risking to become shallow.
I wish that during this time, you too, have been able to dive deep within and have discovered something new and surprising in that garden of yours.
Artificial lit nights, replicas of an endemic Prometheus // "Luci artificiali, repliche di un endemico Prometeo"
Locks and gates leading to unequal paths // "Blocchi e varchi, istituzioni a sostegno della disuguaglianza"
protected and doomed by walls // "protetti e condannati da muri di divisione"
Spirals like Galaxies, // "Spirali come Galassie,"
testimonies of the rise and the dips. // "testimoni di innumerevoli crolli e mutazioni."
Social unrest // "Disordine sociale, tensione"
spectators of casual casualties. // "spettatori di vittime innocenti."
Closed ponds, standing distinct in the glaring light // "Depuratori di pozzi, immolati nel loro splendore"
shifting their boundaries. // "mentre mutano nei propri confini."
Uplifting the fallen // "Fari di anime smarrite"
from their drafts and insipid caves // "tra spiragli e insidiosi nascondigli"
gliding through the alienation. // "sorvolando oltre l'alienazione."
Corrupted and twisted // "Corrotti, contorti"
savoring the sinful juice, // "assaporando il frutto peccaminoso,"
the spread of wet stems. // "il succo di nuovi germogli."
Essential lines // "Linee di file puntiformi"
blaming restrictions and our isolation // "biasimando inique restrizioni e l'opprimente isolamento"
bending under the stagnant weight // "curvi sotto il potere sovrastante"
lifting through bigotry // "liberandosi dal fanatismo"
and despair. // "e dalla disperazione."
Blessed inflorescence // "Accogliendo una prolifica inflorescenza"
epiphany of the senses. // "l'esaltazione dei sensi."
Developing resilience // "Sviluppando resilienza"
in the complexity of simplicity // "attraverso gli intrighi della semplicita'"
and selective solidarity. // "e della solidarieta' selettiva."
Reflections like dreams // "Riflessioni come sogni"
protective filters of blurred minds // "schermi protettivi di menti offuscate"
Real and surreal. Mercury // "Reale e surreale. Mercurio"