Photography for Wall, Page & Screen
Title: INVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS
Involutionary Progress is an oxymoron in that – despite the evolution of contemporary civilisation – lack of care is still vastly shown in many areas of societies. In this project, each dish shows an actuality fact that concerns the whole world population but that started from one country.
I have analysed this idea of disparity and unbalance through the theme of healthcare in China, from which the spread of Coronavirus started: rice represents the large population of this country, while the dispersion of soy sauce sauce stands for the algorithmic widening of the scale through which the Covid-19 infection reached every bit of population. I then drained it at the base of the dish to be also seen as the blood shed by the pandemic.
The fish represents the pollution of the seas. I thought of locating it in Nordic areas such as Norway.Norway is among the most concretely active countries in the protection of the ecosystem and liquid assets. The Norwegian government is working hard, through the tools of international cooperation, to ensure that plastic waste exporters obtain prior approval from the importing country and provide more detailed information on the volume and type of waste they intend to treat.
The third picture is about Italy, as can be clearly seen from the pasta dish seasoned with tomato sauce and basil. This dish, with the presence of black olives, represents immigration and in particular the landings of Lampedusa. In Italy we have always complained about having to welcome these people, forgetting that they come to our country to escape the war, or certainly not comfortable situations.
The theme of violence against women was treated through unleavened bread which is a characteristic food of Africa. The black string that sews the two sides represents female mutilation; in early May 2020, in fact, mutilation becomes illegal in Sudan.
The hot dog is connected to the USA and the weapons problem: in this country it is possible to buy firearms at normal market. For this reason, the hot dog appears to have a gunshot wound.
The images all have a frame that reinforces the idea of three-dimensionality, inspired by the photographer Elad Lassry. I was also inspired by Sophie Calle’s series Chromatic Diet, in regards to colours: I tried to use them in a way that could recall those of the country that I would go to examine.
As for the installation plan, the images are positioned side by side in horizontal order, with a single light coming from above that creates the shadow through the frame.
