foil stamping on sewed cotton canvas, lace, used clothes, metal wire | 245 x 107 cm | 2024
LA SCALA DI GIACOBBE
Jacob’s Ladder belongs to the Billboards series, large banners that by definition serve as backdrops for striking phrases meant to capture attention, straddling the line between teaching and revelation, while allowing a hint of secrecy to show through. The billboards shed the volatility and perishability of advertising messages and today’s need to attach labels and markings to support a supposed value, becoming written cries that bring back the imaginative and vital power of humanity, without losing sight of its vulnerability and secret nature.
Specifically, “Jacob’s Ladder” features a quote from W.G. Sebald’s “The Emigrants”:
“In summer, the windows stay open, but the shutters are closed, and in the twilight, the light falls obliquely like Jacob’s ladder,” which exemplifies the four literary movements of meaning: from the literal to the metaphorical, to the symbolic, and finally to the anagogical. Below, forming the background, is a chaos of quotations, texts, and book titles, seemingly unconnected: not everything in a work of art must be visible, and its public display does not define it. The apparent succession of writings, the multifaceted composition that makes recognizing a narrative difficult, aims to highlight its perennial essence, always available yet hidden.
