Day 2 > Rachela Abbate

Earth’s Move (What happens when you breathe) – TRT 2:33

Space is condition of possibility of thinking. What happens if we review this condition and redefine space? The animation video Earth’s Move (What happens when you breathe) is a reflection on unity as space concept, minimally pictured in circles as spaces of different dimensions limited by round lines. By using reduced images in black and white with some flashing gaps of colors in the beginning and end of the video, the focus lays on the movement of the circles which appear to become one and to shift again separately as many, and on the sound of continuous breathing and a cello arrangement.

The meaning of unity includes two concepts; one is the idea of individuality and the other the idea of agglomeration of individualities. Unity, as every space, despite its dimension is defined by its limits. In other words, limits are the definition of space and we use to think along these limits. Equally to the tangible aspects, a space can be created as well by repetitions of movements or rhythms, as we know from energetic fields or as phenomenon of rituals. The breath is a rhythmic movement and transports, next to the vital elements, our energies. With this rhythm, we create spaces and move through dimensions. In continuing this perspective on a global level, we can think to create space with every breath together with other beings on this Earth, including the Earth itself. Then, the space is an interlacement of movements with and through all the breathing. Our breathing is a movement in unity with others. Under this aspect remains the question, how we redefine then space and limits.

This video work was inspired by the writings of F. Nietzsche (especially, The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music) and is part of my investigations of space and its functions and concepts. In art, we think in a different space, which, inserted in the common space, opens up possibilities of transformation. I define this space as non-space: a “gap”, a discontinuity of physical and immaterial structures through translation activity in artistic operation. The non-space initiates reflection and alternative mental processes toward awareness and autonomy. In other words, the non-space is an aesthetic reflection on the different social imaginary, creating a momentum of perspective change. In contemporary environments, the concept of space changes deeply due to political, environmental, economic, social, and technological developments with a profound global impact on the collective and the single being. In these changes, I see a possibility of involvements of art in raising awareness on different levels and therefore allowing changes toward utopian visions.

This video was shown first in 2017 at the exhibition Mirabilium Archivium in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy.

RACHELA ABBATE, Italo-German conceptual artist living in Italy. She studied philosophy in Germany and graduated in Fine Arts in Italy at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. Her work explores spaces, structures, and architectures, which form basic conditions of thinking, in particular, the significance of architected spaces in knowledge communication and archiving. Through aesthetic imaginaries Rachela aims to provoke reflections, diverse perceptions, and consequently transformation, working with photography, installation, video, drawing, and text as aesthetic material. Her works are characterized as minimal and conceptual in using series, combinations, and repetition techniques.

She is also co-founder and curator of different participatory projects related to social change, such as Social Soups, a platform project of social engagement focusing on food, and in the past, the still active project Bait al Karama, a women center in the West Bank combining artistic activity with a social enterprise. Her work has been shown internationally e.g. at the Istanbul Biennale (2010) and during the Venice Biennale (2015); Kyoto Municipal Museum, Japan; in Italy; in UK; at the Busan Biennale-Sea Art Festival in South Korea (2013) where she was awarded with the second prize.

http://rachelaabbate.net