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OTIUM – CORRUPTION AND THE DASH

 

Opening 18 Novembre, 11.00
Dal 19 Novembre al 9 Dicembre 2017
Palazzo Marigliano Caracciolo, Via San Biagio dei Librai 39, Napoli

 

Absolute hospitality requires that I open up my home and that I give not only to the foreigner (provided with a family name, with the social status of being a foreigner, etc.), but to the absolute, unknown, anonymous other, and that I give place to them, that I let them come, that I let them arrive, and take place in the place I offer them, without asking of them either reciprocity (entering into a pact) or even their names.
(Jaques Derrida, Of Hospitality, 1996.  P. 58)

 

Residency 80121 is pleased to present Otium – Corruption and the Dash, an exhibition that closes the first edition of the residency program in collaboration with the Relais Regina Giovanna in Sorrento.
The first edition of the residency, The Good, The Bad and the InBetween, received the support of MADRE.

The exhibition puts various artistic practices in dialogue, each with its own singular approach to site specificity, and each contributing to the creation of a circular approach to the dialectic appropriation and redefinition of space, and of the relationship between the host and the hosted, the Self and the Other. A single ecosystem emerges, fluid and incomplete, which allows the viewer to pose new questions on the relationships created within the exhibition space. On show are new works by the artists Zehra Arslan, Raffaela Naldi Rossano, Santiago Reyes Villaveces and Susanne Winterling, who spent a month at the Relais Regina Giovanna, from October 9th to November 5th. It is the first of a series of residencies sets in the 2,000-year-old southwestern coastal town of Sorrento. The dialogue between the artists and the environment was stimulated by exploring the natural rhythm of the place, in which the connection with the here and now and the art practise was accompanied by the historical energy that bounds the holy atmosphere to the mysterious stories about Regina Giovanna “La Pazza”.

The works of Maria Thereza Alves and Jimmie Durham are also an integral part of the exposition, as founding reference points and inspiration for the collective exchange created during the residency.

The exhibition is held within an apartment that used to be the ballroom of Palazzo Marigliano, in Via San Biagio dei Librai. The palazzo, a perfect example of Neapolitan Renaissance architecture, subject to countless alterations over time, such as the construction of the splendid eighteenth-century staircase, damaged by a WW II bomb, is an important reference in the historical centre of the city, a place of traditional craftsmanship, cultural awakening, social commitment. On the façade, inside the courtyard, on the ceilings of the main floor, one reads the Memini inscription, a reminder to remember.

The rooms of a private apartment that had been closed off, and used to house the Archival and Bibliographical Superintendency of Campania, were opened specifically for this exhibition. As the exhibition closes, so will the flat, before going through a renovation process. The exhibition is therefore the last opportunity to explore some of the most remarkable rooms of this noble palazzo, including the ballroom which preserves portions of original frescoes by Francesco De Mura from 1750, the 16th Century floor, as well as hosting the first part of Otium – Corruption and the Dash.

Dear Santiago, Susanne and Zehra,

I am writing to you in Italian, my mother tongue, because rather than my words, I would like you to understand how I feel about our community, this utopian we, we have tried to create.

At dusk on September 18, reliving and perhaps reshaping past experiences that spontaneously culminate in the outcome of Otium, within those walls of tufa and olives, the space that we inhabit contains snippets of stories and creative inspiration, ephemeral activities and entertainment, and also mysteries and ghosts, a reading defines the direction that all subsequent dialogues will take. The collective unconscious becomes one and raises a question: “What should this newly formed project look like?” The “Book of Changes”, that came from China to shed light on the fate of the many disappeared lovers of Queen Giovanna D’Angiò, gives us an answer and an epiphany: the KU character, number 18, saying:

“Work on what has been spoiled has supreme success.
It furthers one to cross the great water.
Before the starting point three days,
After the starting point three days”

On a day of idleness, we go for a stroll and redefine the act of walking, our feet are heavy now, the rest are the creases breaking the sound of our beats. Then we drink, and we wake up in front of a lagoon covered with mud. Feces and stray cats, this is how corruption manifests itself. How many poems can you recite on a full moon night? Maybe two, then the silence.

Waking up at dawn and singing. Breathe in the sound of migrating birds. How much time goes by while you look at the sea. It is an imaginary landscape, here you are Zehra, your motherland, after much perseverance you have found it. It is hidden between the woody legs of an eager woman, or within a teal bottle.

The truth is approaching however, recreating a structure that holds and protects. The ceiling of a ballroom, permeated with secret kisses and overly affected dances.
Every segment of a structure is defined, dear Santiago, but what is its function?
It rises to the sky wanting to impose itself, it’s a parasite of time and here it says: I do exist. No matter what I represent, I have a story – but I won’t let anyone define me.

Oh my dear Susanne, I move my limbs in the dark, in the wavy waters and my body comes to life. So I understand the limits of my skin through the other, an ecosystem that speaks and defines but at the same time confronts the boundaries of my identity.

We drank red wine until time paused. We did not find the truth but something was born. What happens when you try to dance in a narrow hall full of broken glass?

Everything gets confused, I no longer understand what belongs to me, and not to the group. What I see becomes a mirror of your eyes.

I look through a multicolored eye that belongs to Santiago, Zehra and Susanne.

The bond to tradition has led to decadence. Memini. Memini. Memini.

I remember when I played, surrounded with dolls that from all corners of the world, to now find here and now a lonely little girl.

Swimming every morning healed us. We have learned that you can make mistakes, and that everything in life is incomplete. This circle will never close. What was the meaning of God’s coming? We are finite human beings, but here we tried to become heroes, and failed. But succeeded in terms of intent.

Raffaela

Residency 80121 thanks

Gianluca, Anna Paula and the team of Relais Regina Giovanna; Marigliano Caracciolo Family and Parrella Family; Gianna, Iacopo, Giorgio and Giuseppe; Antonio, Jimmie and Maria Thereza people that live, work or gravitate to Palazzo Marigliano

Anna Maria, Marianna, Paola, Lena, Angela, Claudia, Andrea, Alessandra, Vanni, Gennaro, Roberto and Max Krefeld and Mark Velarde.

Nello, Tonino and Giuseppe.

Paolo Sordino and Adrianna Ianora, Marine Ecology Department Stazione Zoologica „A Dohrn“ and the fishermen of Marina Grande.

And all the people that have been with us these months.