4179 Toutatis
4179 Toutatis is the largest potentially hazardous asteroid to orbit around the Earth. In this exhibition Toutatis blank slated our planet and only few survivors still wonder around a levelled city. The alleged cataclysm is represented in the paintings and the photos through the depiction of lonely survivors on top of an empty and flat landscape. The skyline of the city has been levelled and wrapped with a synthetic plastic sheet.
The entire show is a visual metaphor of life within the boundaries of the contemporary urban landscape. The survivors wonder in solitude over this parallel Beijing and they seem to have no purpose as they struggle through this artificial desert where they never encounter other city dwellers.
As urban-tuaregs the survivors are nomad because the flat landscape has no references, there is no oasis or stars to guide their path. Their wondering is pointless and the only reality is limited to their mental projections visualised through the erratic behaviour of Xi Fu (希福) or through the surreal abstract shapes of Filippo’s paintings.
The large white fabric that cover the body of Xi Fu (希福) and the coloured traditional tagelmust that wrap the hollow bodies portrayed in the paintings mimic the green plastic sheet that modestly cover the demolished areas of Beijing. The body of the city and of the survivors are not exposed as it is impossible to reveal the meaning of life or unveil the path of humanity in the overly complex contemporary global context.
The entire visual work is romantic. There is no rational analysis or solution to the condition of the survivors, there is only an aesthetic experience that emphasises the vacuum of their lives.
The entire project is an empty container, a hollow space that can be filled by the uncertainty and uneasiness that mark inside the city dwellers of our world.
4179 Toutatis is an art exhibition by Filippo Cardella in collaboration with A Dan (阿丹), Yat Yin (一言), Xi Fu (希福), and Burbex. The exhibition featured paintings by Filippo Cardella, photos by Yat Yin (一言) and a costume by A Dan (阿丹 ).
