The Capsule Of Desire
not to be opened before 29 April 2053
This is but an artifice, one of many put into action by man to live the illusion against nature of being eternally. Matching the desire to hand down one’s inner land, personal stone, a metaphor of the spiritual memory that every man must find by digging within himself.
Although the message is unidirectional, i.e. from the past to the future, this does not diminish its charm. The first capsules of time, at least from the point of view of form, were the messages in the bottles entrusted to the waves. We do not know who first had the idea of throwing their message into the water in a bottle, but tradition has it that it was the Greek philosopher Theophrastus in 310 B.C., to prove that the Mediterranean Sea was in communication with the Atlantic Ocean.
The reflection around this work comes at a time when the lives of most human beings are deprived of civil liberties, freedom of assembly, sovereignty over our bodies, meeting persons, hugs, handshakes and public life.
We are bewildered, disoriented, perhaps frightened.
We are living through a crucial moment of humanity that has the acrid taste of a warning.
A unique and extraordinary opportunity to build the new paradigms of value capable of giving future generations a sense of new possibilities.
The Covid-19 virus is showing us that when humanity is united in the common cause, very rapid phenomenal change is possible.
How will we live after the pandemic?
My call is to stop this complex moment of universal anguish…
through an intimate ritualistic gesture of gathering.
THE CAPSULAR:
choose a box, better if metallic with a snap fastener, alternatively you can use a glass jar with a pressure cap that guarantees an airtight seal.
Choose seven very small things carefully, devote time and attention, without haste.
TALISMAN
attribute to an object the value of Talisman from the Greek verb “teleus” which means first of all to accomplish, or put into effect. The Talisman is an object marked by magical signs to which we arbitrarily confer supernatural protection powers.
ODRADEK
is an imaginary being described in a story by Franz Kafka, The worry of the family man (1917)* and, a few years later, also mentioned by Jorge Luis Borges in the Manual of fantastic zoology.
Odradek can manifest itself in many ways: a recurring worry or something you keep in your pocket or purse, like an amulet.
A GLASS OBJECT
one or more small glass objects, better if transparent
A STONE FOUND
special or anthropomorphic shape
A SEED
a seed of a fruit or smaller seeds collected in a gauze wrap
A SMALL NOTEBOOK
on which you will note every day, for a multiple number of days of 14, a wealth of thoughts, dreams and desires more recurring
A MASK
a fabric one to wrap all the objects before inserting them into the capsule.
to complete the rite, before closing the capsule, sign and date by hand two copies of the list with the precise names you attribute to the seven things, fold and put the first one in an envelope, on the second one write the date and instructions and the date of reopening, fold and put in an envelope on which you will write the address of the youngest woman you know.
Send it.
Instructions
After closing the capsule, bury it secretly, after dark, next to a tree in the nearest garden within 200 m. of your quarantine dwelling. Draw a map on the second letter with the exact spot where you have hidden the capsule.
Calculate the reopening date:
Add the number of your day of birth with the number of the month of birth, the number obtained will be added to 2020. indicate as opening day your date of birth of the year obtained from the sum.
Example: my date of birth is 29 April, so 29 + 4 = 33, 33 + 2020 = 2053.
In my case the date of reopening will be April 29, 2053, exactly 90 years after my birth.
Bio
Architect, Artist and curator of Public Art
turns its research towards the study of the phenomena of transformation of the anthropized and urban territories, experimenting interventions of interpretation through the expressive languages of the contemporary.
Among the founders in 1993 of the collective Città Svelata, engaged in projects aimed at the quality of public space. He collaborates until 2015 as a researcher and designer with the Giulio Einaudi Foundation.
In 2012 and 2013 Tutor Advisor for the Master’s thesis in Design at the Domus Academy in Milan.
He conducts teaching activities and workshops on the themes of Design Culture, living and the application of the Civic Arts as practices in urban and territorial regeneration processes.
Recent activities
He has recently published for Boite Editions the book “Senza senza casa senza cosa?” a project born on the occasion of the exhibition “999 domande sull’abitare contemporanea, Triennale di Milano 2018.
He is currently curator, with Stefano Mirti, of the project BOTTOM UP!
Festival of Architecture of Turin 2020.
Since September 2019 he is Senior Professor at the IED University of Turin,
Between 2018 and 2019 he edited the catalogue of the Historical Library of the Scuola Superiore d’Arte Applicata of Castello Sforzesco, Milan.
March 2019 – “one hour at a time” Lecture/diorama, for PROXIMA festival on the occasion of the centenary of the agreement to reduce the working day to 8 hours, Teatro Espace, Turin.
November 2018 – “il Nuovo Mondo e altre storie” Lecture of public restitution of research on the life of Francesco Toris, for the first edition of Faust Fest.
October 2018 – “l’eccezione come regola” Lecture, libretto and exhibition for the Festival Torino Stratosferica.
With the project “l’oro di Pianpicollo Selvatico”, he was the first artist invited to the artistic residency program PIANPICOLLO RESEARCH RECIDENCY 2017 – 2018 at Pianpicollo Selvatico, Levice (CN).
