L’amico Luca, commentando in modo straordinario l’articolo “La pura interminabile poesia in vendita”, ha toccato un tema che mi è particolarmente caro: la capacità di emozionare e di emozionarsi.
Un argomento complicato, che presenta molteplici sfaccettature.

http://www.photogeisha.org/index.php?p=1678#comment-17560

Un profumo, una melodia, un’immagine, un gesto, un gioco di memoria, una manciata di parole.
E’ un attimo l’emozione. Più è breve, più è intensa.

Ma, come ci fa notare Luca, la capacità di emozionare passa inevitabilmente attraverso quella di emozionarsi.

Grazie e Chapeau!

English

My friend Luca, commenting, in such an extraordinary way, the article “The pure and never-ending poetry for sale”, has touched a subject very dear to me: the ability to arouse emotions and to feel them.
A complicated topic, with so many facets.

http://www.photogeisha.org/index.php?p=1678#comment-17560

A fragrance, a melody, a picture, a gesture, a memory game, a handful of words.
Emotion is just an instant. The shorter one is the more intense.

But, as Luca points out, the ability to arouse emotions, goes through the ability to feel them.

Thanks and Chapeau!

Alcuni di voi mi hanno chiesto lumi sulla pura ed interminabile poesia.
Li rimando ad un testo che ho scritto alcuni anni fa, per presentare la mostra “10 anni o poco più″.

Una mostra speciale. Una finestra sulla mia intimità.
Una dichiarazione d’amore per qualcosa che, nel corso degli anni, ha saputo regalarmi un diluvio di emozioni.

10 ANNI O POCO PIU’

10 anni o poco più di memorie fotografiche, di appunti volanti rubati al lento, inesorabile passo del destino.
Un nome che ha il sapore della scoperta, del sogno, del miracolo.
Un occhio lucido e curioso capace di mettere a fuoco perfino le emozioni.
Una sorta di moleskine a sviluppo immediato, dove la parola cede il passo all’immagine, accompagnandola discretamente.

10 anni o poco più di vagabondaggi fotografici: aerei, treni, automobili, autobus, barche, traghetti, carrozze risciò, tricicli e scarpe consumate.

10 scatti alla volta: linee, punti, superfici, luci ed ombre, impatti grafici surreali, legati più alla violenta emozione del momento che alla mera necessità descrittiva.
Contaminazioni da Inapensiero, un gioco nato per scherzo e cresciuto per caso.

10 anni o poco più di amori, di solitudine, di incontri casuali a latitudini poco comuni, di dubbi e certezze, di conferme e smentite, di crescita umana ed artistica.

10 anni o poco più in cui la ricerca incessante dell’immenso paese dei balocchi, è stata sempre ferocemente scandita da quella pura, interminabile poesia che risponde al nome di POLAROID.

English

Some of you asked me about the pure, never-ending poetry.
I refer you to a text I wrote some years ago, to present my exhibition “10 years or a little more”

A special exhibition. A window on my intimacy.
A declaration of love for something that, over the years, has been able to give me a flood of emotions.

10 YEARS OR A LITTLE MORE

10 years or a little more of photographic memories, of fleeting notes stolen from the slow, inexorable pace of destiny.
A name that smacks of discovery, dreams, miracles.
A keen, curious eye that can focus even on emotions.
A sort of instant Moleskine, where words give way to the image, accompanying it discreetly.

10 years or a little more of photographic wandering: airplanes, trains, cars, buses,
boats, ferries, rickshaws, tricycles and worn out shoes.

10 shots at a time: lines, points, surfaces, light and shadow, surreal graphic impacts, linked more with the violent emotion of the moment than with the mere need for description.
Contaminations by Inapensiero, a game begun as a joke and growing by chance.

10 years or a little more of loves, of solitude, of chance encounters at uncommon latitudes, of doubts and certainties, of confirmations and denials, of human and
artistic growth.

10 years or a little more in which the incessant searching for that immense Toyland
has always been ferociously marked by the pure, never-ending poetry that goes
by the name of POLAROID.

Ringrazio l’amico Sergio per avermi segnalato quest’articolo: http://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli-e-cultura/2010/02/16/foto/polaroid-2317029/1/

Non parlo volentieri di Polaroid. Non più.
Stavolta però, mi vedo costretto a fare un’eccezione.

Il tesoro, o almeno una parte di questo, è in vendita, sotto i colpi feroci, ma in fin dei conti giusti, di un tribunale fallimentare del Minnesota.
Alcuni dei più grandi capolavori fotografici del 900 andranno all’asta, il 21 e 22 giugno, in quel di New York.
In un momento in cui sembra imminente la rinascita del marchio.

Diciamo subito che non credo molto a questa presunta Pasqua di resurrezione del “Impossible Project”, con Lady Gaga nella parte del direttore creativo partoriente.
E’ un’operazione - secondo il mio modesto parere - più speculativa che nostalgica.
Un irrefrenabile, inutile desiderio di raschiare il fondo del barile.
Con tutto il rispetto possibile, Andy Warhol era ben altra cosa.

Passi la cessata produzione delle pellicole, passino i tentativi, più o meno discutibili, per resuscitarla, ma vendere all’asta una parte della collezione è una barbarie senza precedenti.
Per chi, come me, vive ancora di sogni e colori pastello, è un colpo abbondantemente sotto la cintura.

Capisco il progresso, capisco il profitto, capisco la necessità.
Ma la poesia, soprattutto quella pura ed interminabile, non dovrebbe mai essere in vendita.

English

I thank my friend Sergio for giving me this article: http://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli-e-cultura/2010/02/16/foto/polaroid-2317029/1/

I do not speak willingly of Polaroid. Not anymore.
This time though, I am forced to make an exception.

The treasure, or at least a part of it, is for sale, under the fierce but fair application of Minnesota bankruptcy court.
Some of the greatest photographic masterpieces of the twentieth century, will be auctioned, on June 21st and 22nd, in New York City.
At a time when the rebirth of the brand seems very near.

Let’s say that I do not believe much in this hypothetical Easter resurrection represented by “The Impossible Project”, with Lady Gaga in the part of the creative director.
It seems - in my humble opinion - something more speculative than nostalgic.
An unnecessary desire to scrape the bottom of the barrel.
With all due respect, Andy Warhol was a very different thing.

I can understand the discontinued film production, I can also understand the attempt to resuscitate it, but selling part of the collection is an unprecedented barbarity.
For me, that still live my dreams in pastel colors, is a punch below the belt.

I understand the progress, I understand the profit, I understand the need.
But poetry, especially the pure and never-ending one, should never be for sale.

Non ho niente da dire oggi.
Lascio parlare lo specchio che nasconde, tra lo sporco e la grana, tutta l’illusione possibile.

English

I have nothing to say today.
Let talk the mirror that hides, among the dirt and grain, the possible illusion.

E’ iniziato l’anno della tigre. Simbolo di coraggio forza e passione.
Ne approfitto per fare gli auguri a tutti gli amici cinesi.

Speriamo solo che le tigri, quelle vere, riescano ad evitare un’estinzione che sembrerebbe purtroppo quasi certa.

English

The year of the tiger has just started. This animal is a symbol of courage, strength and passion.
I would like to wish Happy New Year to my Chinese friends.

I hope that the tigers, the real ones, will avoid extinction, which unfortunately it seems almost sure.

Courtesy of Roberto Stefanelli © 2010

Un risveglio soffice. Una rarissima eccezione che conferma la regola.
La visione comune completamente “stravolta” da pochi centimetri di neve.

L’occhio, senza i consueti punti di riferimento, ritorna improvvisamente alla meraviglia ed alla purezza dei bambini.

English

A sweet awakening. A very rare exception that proves the rule.
The view is completely “altered” by a few inches of snow.

The eye, without the usual reference points, suddenly returns to the wonder and purity of children.

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Gli interrogativi continuano.
Mi rifletto in un pensiero dalle innumerevoli sfaccettature, in perfetto equilibrio tra magnetismo e futurismo.

English

There are still so many unanswered questions.
I mirror myself in a very complicated thought, a perfect balance between magnetism and futurism.

Mi interrogo spesso sul senso delle cose.
Una catena di rebus non ancora svelati ed impossibili da svelare.
Provo a seguirne le tracce, ma non riesco a trovare nient’altro che una vaga idea di quello che vorrei.

English

I often wonder about the meaning of things.
A chain of puzzles not yet revealed and impossible to unravel.
I try to follow the tracks, but I cannot find anything but a vague idea of what I want.

Vi segnalo con piacere due mostre, che saranno inaugurate domani all’ICEBOX GALLERY di Minneapolis: http://www.iceboxminnesota.com

I suggest two exhibitions, that will open tomorrow in Minneapolis at ICEBOX GALLERY: http://www.iceboxminnesota.com

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Icebox Gallery presents: 

”Route Eight-O-Nine” by Italian Photographer Umberto Stefanelli

This is the U.S. debut exhibit of Umberto Stefanelli’s new work. Route Eight-O-Nine are made from a collage of Chinese bank notes and Polaroid emulsion transfers that are photographed as a whole, and then digitally printed in limited edition. This work blurs the lines between collage and photography and original and copy. Route Eight-O-Nine is not an actual place found on a Google map; this is a personal place within the artist’s imagination, a place for creative departure on pathways crisscrossed and full of the personal histories and encounters acquired along the journey of his life. The name Eight-O-Nine is derived from Umberto Stefanelli’s long time use of the now extinct Polaroid 809 film.
Umberto Stefanelli’s artwork begins with 8×10 Polaroid film of a close-up image of Mao Tse-Tung acquired from Chinese currency and then transferring the images to paper. Stefanelli separates the gelatin layer of the film and adheres it to fine art paper to create each collage. The Polaroid image is very thin and transparent allowing the other elements, in this case, real currency, to be visible through the film layers and tiny wrinkles that appear to be three-dimensional. In May 2008 the original 8 collaged pieces were shown in Shanghai, China and all sold to one collector. The Icebox Gallery exhibit features the Umberto Stefanelli edition of Digigraphie Prints. The name Digigraphie is a quality issue of limited edition prints from Epson.
The iconic image of Mao Tse-Tung and Chinese currency seem appropriate to be contemplated at this time in world history. In Umberto Stefanelli’s collage work the use of currency assumes another purpose as an aesthetic element of his art. The bank note itself is photographed as if it is a landscape or location isolating and appropriating the Mao Tse-Tung portrait. The photographic image of Mao‘s face is enlarged and applied over the currency. The color scheme of the differing denomination dictates the look of each work of artwork.

Title: “Route Eight-O-Nine”, Polaroid Transfer Collage by Umberto Stefanelli Opening: 7 PM ~ 11 PM Saturday, February 6th, 2010 exhibited through Saturday, May 1st.

Icebox Gallery presents: 

”Dolls” new photographic work by Howard M. Christopherson

Dolls is a body of work of a collection of twenty close-up portraits of porcelain headed dolls photographed in natural light in the same way a real person would be. The effect is intriguing, enchanted, lifelike, adorable and sometimes eerie.

”I have always been interested in photographing mannequins, dolls and masks but this work is unique because it is derived from one woman’s collection of porcelain dolls all shot in the same light giving them a cohesiveness and sisterhood. There is magic in these green, brown and blue eyes that I hope to capture, they transport me to a place somewhere between reality and fabrication. ” -Christopherson 

The history of dolls begins in the prehistoric times. Porcelain dolls go back to 1770’s when the doll heads were manufactured in Cornwall, England. This collection of dolls belongs to Kay and they were all given to her beginning in the 1960’s. These are not extraordinary but they are beautiful dolls, not museum pieces or extremely rare, but some of them have lifelike eyelashes and moving eyes. Others have their lashes and eyebrows painted on. Most of the dolls have glass eyes that would move when the doll is tilted. Each doll has a distinctive cherub look, air-brushed pink cheeks, lifelike hair, dressed with lace and some are adorned with jewels. No doubt that each doll is dressed to attend a special tea party with friends. 

Some of the dolls have scrambled hair; presumably when a child played with Kay’s dolls, but Kay had no children of her own. She has lived her life in South Dakota in a very small town. She calls her house “The Doll House.” This is most of Kay’s collection of porcelain dolls. These dolls were photographed as they were found, some dusty and some have cracked eyes. The dust seems to make the skin look even more real and long strands of hair go in and out of focus that gives them life. 

Some questions that can be asked when looking at these images are; Where does the “soul” of a person begin to be captured in photography? Is a photograph of an artificial doll almost as revealing of personality as that of real person if both are transferred to the same two dimensions and captured in the same light? How much are we affected by Hollywood’s portrait of sinister dolls? Why is it that dolls sometimes appear eerie or ghostly even if they are an incent child’s toy.

Title: “Dolls”, Color photography by Howard M. Christopherson - People, Places & Dreams Opening: 7 PM ~ 11 PM Saturday, February 6th, 2010 exhibited through Saturday, May 1st.

E’ un periodo di ricordi lontani, di notti insonni, di dejà vu pesanti come macigni.

Mi piacerebbe, per un’insignificante frazione di secondo, cristallizzare il tempo in una goccia d’acqua o, meglio ancora, imprigionarlo nella candida cornice di una Polaroid…..per sempre.

English

It ’s a time of distant memories, sleepless nights, dejà vu as heavy as boulders.

I’d like, for an insignificant fraction of a second, to freeze the time in a drop of water or, even better, trapping “him” in a Polaroid white frame…..forever.