Artist talk at Oreri
Moderated by: Luca Carboni
Cagliari, Italy
July 2019
ISOLA was a public gathering in Cagliari, Sardinia, at the new space recently opened by Luca Carboni—and friends, in his hometown, after almost ten years of living in the North of Europe and traveling. During this meeting, two projects were presented next to each other, for they related to the characteristics of the island in reference to time and History. The documentation of the project “Center the Border” which happened in Hormoz Island was installed next to the curtains of “Revolting Time.” The juxtaposition of the projects triggered a reflection on two specific objects, namely maps and calendar, as tools of power. During the talk we discussed about the possibility of drawing a collective map, and remembering and celebrating historical moments with the help of metaphoric abstraction, that allows us to include variety in the narration of time and space.
Statement:
From the Italian etymology of the word isola from Latin in-sula, which is composed by the particles IN and SAL-UM=gr. sàl-os sea, and propr. movement, fluxus agitation land inclosed all around by the sea; and seemingly a group of houses detached from any stripe.
The whole concept of the island is an idea, precisely because it involves a morphological isolation that makes a piece of land become the centre of the world. As the sea is the limit of the island, it is the zone of contact and perception of the organism island. As the sea is the skin of the island, it makes the island touch areas that are apparently very far away. So when on the island, the perspective is reversed and the “isolated island” becomes the centre of the world. This twist of perspective happens on a macro and micro level, as the organism island offers its figures out of their background, from its cartography to its infinite details.
Hormuz is an island located on the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf. For its position in the map, it’s a liminal space. By means of convention, Hormuz is a border. But for its inhabitants Hormuz is the centre of the world. An island has the privileged position to observe everyday both sunset and sunrise. In order to witness these daily events, people make specific geographical references to witness the passing of time and to count days. .
In the moment the sun is setting or rising, a pause occurs outside of time. In those instants at the edge of darkness, as the first signs of light come out—or at the edge of light, when darkness has not yet enveloped the Earth—there is a moment in which our perception falls into a visual ambiguity, as our eyes mistake the distance, size, and shape of what we see. Within these errors of vision, however, there lies the opportunity to take away some ground from our perception falls into a visual ambiguity, as our eyes mistake the distance, size, and shape of what we see. Within these errors of vision, however, there lies the opportunity to take away some ground from our perception, in favor of imagination.
