Napoli
a crack into the meaning of geological empathy
Napoli is a city where each one is reminded, in the background, that nature will always win. When situated in a geologically active place, people have no choice but to contend with forces of nature, and perhaps in turn the people themselves become their own forces. I read during a recent art exhibition that Naples is a city that doesn’t know it’s dying. Juxtapose that thought with the idea that something dead can never die, and the infamous 'mystical’ quality reveals its apparatus.
As an artist, working to de-mythologize anything I seek to understand, I am interested in making my art invite connection with reality, to encourage humans to engage in active benevolence. This motive often resolves itself through viewers experiencing my work as a space for quiet reflection.
Since my work is related with Water, reflection seems just fine as long as we don’t become so enamored with what appears to be there and continually remain open for new insights in those reflections. One of the several gifts from (surviving) Napoli is the virtue and architectural nemesis of Ma or Mem…the primordial unknown and water, resulting in the simultaneous qualities of open and esoteric.
Naples exemplifies a place where things hidden in other cities, are right out front. Therefore, the time I’ve spent here clarified the decades of research conducted all over the world: People defending transgressive behaviors are upholding chaos. The (comforting) thing is nature self organizes and balances itself. Therefore, the work I do here is tied to this, such as the work in progress Jakob’s Ladder.
In the end, the delicate harmony of balance of the elements - such as evidenced by Campi Flegrei…will eventually be disrupted and a new equilibrium will be formed.
The people have spoken, and I am told by those who wrote me after my last post, want to see more. Obliged as I am to feed the desire, I also have to sustain my existence, and finance the production of more work and exhibitions. So I have decided to offer you a sample here and offer more beyond the PayWall.
Thank you for being here.
