JOURNEY INTO FAGILITY by Maria Rebecca Ballestra
Permanent Installation - Isola della Certosa – Venice
Opening 9th MAY 2015, 6 pm
Journey into Fragility (www.journeyintofragility.com) is a two-year project on art and the environment by the artist Maria Rebecca Ballestra, curated by Paola Valenti, promoted by the ADAC (Contemporary Art Archive of Genoa University) and supported by the Prince Albert II Foundation andItalian Branch of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, which was inspired by the Manifesto for the Earth and Man by the poet and essayistMassimo Morasso. Signed by some of the most famous poets in the world, including 5 Nobel prize and 6 Pulitzer prize winners. The Manifesto for the Earth and for Man is made up of twelve theses that offer a constructive rewriting of the theme of the environmental crisis; the project Journey into Fragility drew inspiration from these, developing twelve different projects in twelve different places in the world, with the aim of developing a constructive dialogue on the environment and the value of life on Earth.
After having spent two years’ travelling across the four continents, the project’s spirit and philosophical and environmental contents have been transformed into a permanent art work on Isola della Certosa. The installation is articulated into three parts: the landing stage leading to the island will house an art work that pays homage to the Manifesto for the Earth and Man, with the names of the Manifesto signees on steel plates along the way; the garden will host a work paying homage to the project Journey into Fragility that consists of 12 steel domes, each bearing an inscription of the site of each of the twelve stages of the project, and their distance in Km from the island; the third piece will pay homage to travels, both physical and interior, going beyond unknown horizons, one’s own limits and one's own knowledge: an audio track with extracts from descriptions of the artist’s travels during the two-year project, poetry readings and the theses of the Manifesto for the Earth and for Man.
Isola della Certosa is the ideal setting for the art work: the redevelopment of one of the largest islands in the Venice Lagoon foresees the total requalification of the island with the aim of creating a park that is accessible to the public that has no architectural barriers, creating equipped areas and itineraries, whilst preserving over two thirds of the entire surface area of the island's natural heritage. Together with the Municipality of Venice, Vento di Venezia(www.ventodivenezia.it) is in charge of the entire project for the Certosa Park; it goes without saying that it is focussing on the best principles of sustainability and low environmental impact, offering integrated services for pleasure boating, sport, environmental education, tourist-hotel facilities, as well as sports and cultural events.
The project will be presented on the solar catamaran PlanetSolar (www.planetsolar.com), the first vessel in the world to have travelled around the world using only solar energy. The first journey around the world took 584 days' navigation, covering more than 60,000 km. Designed in Switzerland and built in Germany, the catamaran called at no less than 28 countries – from the United States to Mexico, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates - promoting the use of solar energy and showing how effective today's technology actually is.
PlanetSolar and Journey into Fragility both share the idea of travelling as a means to draw attention to an innovative use of solar energy for the former, and as a proposal of environmental renewal and sustainability for the latter.
The invitations and catalogue have been printed on Shiro Alga Carta by Favini, a unique ecological paper made from the infesting algae in the Venice Lagoon, using an innovative solution patented by Favini for the protection of fragile lagoon ecosystems. The surplus algae are mixed with certified FSC fibre. Favini decided to neutralise the unavoidable residual emissions of Shiro by taking part in the financing of a project linked to renewable energy. In particular, this activity takes place in India and foresees the production of clean energy by using wind energy from wind turbines, reducing the use of fossil fuels. (www.favini.com)
CATALOGUE:
Journey into Fragility, curated by Paola Valenti, published by Allemandi, 128 pag. bilingual english/italian.
Texts by: Paola Valenti, Massimo Morasso, Thomas Kalau, Luca Bochicchio, Daniela Legotta, Mamia Bretesche, Luca Zordan, Fabio Carnaghi, Alessandra Piatti, Sara Rees, Leo Lecci, Stella Rouskova, Joachim Arndt, Rachela Abbate
USEFUL INFORMATION:
Transport:
ACTV, Line 4.1 and 4.2 every 20 minutes from 06.20 to 20.00; Linea 5.1 and 5.2 from 21.00 to 24.00 every 30 minutes.