offerta/opera vana, HD video, 2019 5,27 min.

 

 

work in collaboration with SpiegelimSpiegelKollektiv

 

 

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The concept originates from two iconological images described by Cesare Ripa in his book Nova Iconologia: “Offerta” (offer) and “Opera Vana” (useless endeavor).  The traditional string game is envisioned as a generator of symbolic figures, pointing at the ambivalence of human relationship to natural space. 

 

The image of the Offer relates to an approach to natural space as a respected power, where the offer is a way to ask for help from natural forces. The image of the useless endeavor is what humans accomplish through an endless process of exploiting natural resources until reaching extreme consequences. 

Offerta/Opera Vana is a ritual that aims at contemplating the impossible state of the ambivalence we inhabit.