FRAGMENTS FROM A POSSIBLE PAST 46° 20′ 33.23″ N, 9° 34′ 57.2″ E
2.6. — 10.10.2013
as part of VIDEO ARTE PALAZZO CASTELMUR, Bergell, 2013
curated by Luciano Fasciati and Céline Gaillard

"Cara amica siamo molto lontane una dell'altra ma pazienza la separazione non avrà a sciogliere il legame della nostra amicizia." (Letter from Anna Pasini of Orleans to her friend in Bondo, August 10, 1874)

While a voice from offstage reads various passages from the letters, a projection shows a shot of the artist herself in historical garb in front of a romantic Bergell backdrop with a modern car. In the scene the artist re-enacts the pose of Caspar David Friedrich from his famous self-portrait "The Wanderer over the Sea of Fog" from 1818. The shot goes back to pre-photographic times and turns the static painting, which is considered one of the central works of early German Romanticism, into a tableau vivant. The artist fuses with nature. While her historical garments - a black dress and a forest-green man's coat - are from the Palazzo, the black BMW triggers a break with time. The view into the distance may be an expression of nostalgia in view of the thoughts of the Bergell people living abroad.

In another projection, baptismal and women's hoods from the Palazzo Castelmur's collection glide like parachutes from the sky surrounded by wreaths of leaves, which is given by the trompe-l'oeil painting in the tower hall. Against the background of imitated nature, the hoods allow connections to births and the cycle of life to emerge. In 'Fragments From A Possible Past - 46° 20' 33.23'' N / 9° 34' 57.2'' E' the artist deals with the fates of women from the Bergell and creates an in-between world. She combines 19th century props from the Palazzo Castelmur with symbols from our time, and also enters the space in between herself. An in-between world produced by video, the medium is suited like no other to penetrate history. Thus Sissa Micheli, who often acts as the protagonist in her works, creates new images of femininity using a specific visual language that integrates content from our cultural heritage.

Céline Gaillard