FARWASTEPALERMO

Abstract

A fishing port along the South coast of Palermo evokes imaginary of western films with its name ‘La Bandita’. To the North-West, just 5km. away, there is a twin port, also for small fishing boats, which takes the name of Sant’Erasmo, the solitary anchorite that, unlike La Bandita, is included in a more touristic and mundane environment. From these places, these sunny beaches, this strip of coast arise a specific uniqueness: everything seems dominated by a strong depression of identity in the perverse and interminable relationship between citizen and sea. The entire Mediterranean basin is afflicted by this disease, but here I perceive its specific form while the landscape embodies the signs.

The crumbling, abysmal and evil sea represents the perfect landfill where for years, anger, fear, hatred and much repudiated past have been poured into those waters. The sea in Palermo has become the great ally of the building sack, of mafia, in support of the growing Italian desire for progress and modern housing in the suburbs of large cities. At the same time, the era of navigators, of wise shipwrights, of those who practiced the sea for their profession and necessity, was ending. Along Via dello Scaricatore, contradictions of this modern era are piled up, with an outlet to the sea, a sphincter, where large overflowing trucks can be evacuated. The South coast becomes the scene of a great cycle of dumping and abandonment which over the decades has generated three hills and extended the shore by over 200 meters. An indistinct accumulation of history, defeats and materials of all sorts. This is an immense wasteland.

FARWASTEPALERMO is an 81minutes silent digital excursus with multiple lenses and multiple focus. Reflections in six acts of a landing by sea in Palermo, where the artist is shipwrecked in this disowned and post-war territory, between wrecks and ruins between banditry and loneliness. The ocean wave digs through the ruins of this promontory and into anyone who approaches.

What can this sea mean? What am I doing here and what creature am I evolving into on this space between solid and liquid?