“ESSENZA” is for various reasons a rather strange project. It all began in the beginning of 2018 when I found myself in a period without any work but with a strong desire to be creative. I have always been attracted to cultural and traditional handicrafts as they are usually very interesting, approachable and visually pleasing. One morning I spontaneously decided to go to Murano, a small island in Venice that is famous for its high quality glass production, and began to ask around if it was possible to get inside one of their studios to create some footage for a personal artistic project. Many studios though immediately declined my request by explaining me that their productions are protected by a high level of professional secrecy (some glass studios are producing articles for Armani and Dior etc.).
After a long day of constantly being rejected I almost gave up, but fortunately I got a hint from the locals that there was a glassmaking studio in Murano that focuses manly on the production of prestigious and artistic exhibition pieces. The studio is called Berengo Studio (www.berengo.com) and has worked with internationally renowned artists like Ai Wei Wei and his likes. It is also one of the few manufacturers that held on to many of the traditional ways of glassmaking and thus it seemed the perfect place for fulfilling my goals.
My friend, the Italian composer Alberto Bellavia, helped my communicate my vision by providing one of his beautiful scores. I highly encourage everyone to take a look at his body of work as it is truly astonishing.
I hope that you enjoy the video, the brief glimpse into that distorted memory of mine, the project that was on my mind for two years.