SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION

2019
Chiesa di San Paolo apostolo
Castignano, Italia

The installation was conceived specifically for the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle in Castignano. Closed following the 2016 earthquake, the church represents the most powerful symbolic site for the local community.

The work was developed along two lines.

The first consists of a beam of light crossing the bell tower, marking the presence of the town of Castignano among the hills. The second took the form of the temporary reopening of the church after three years of closure. Inside: smoke, a ray of light traversing the main nave and ultimately illuminating the face of the Virgin, plastic veils onto which images of the territory — filmed beforehand — are projected, and a soundscape composed of religious chants and natural sounds.

Conceptually, the work seeks to reflect upon the dualism between migrating and remaining. This has been translated into a matrix of questions integrated into the video projections:

Why do you leave / Why don’t you leave
Why do you stay / Why don’t you stay
Why do you come / Why don’t you come

Through light, sound, and suspended presence, the installation becomes a space for collective memory and contemplation.