Video: https://vimeo.com/94652082 (by LE BAL, merci!)
"Alessandro CALABRESE’s work is the result of an artist residence conducted between 2012 and 2013 in Valle d’Aosta.
The serie is inspired by the writings of Henry David Thoreau, especially 'Walden, Life in the woods', a manifesto about the relationship between man and nature which has permeated the entire American culture and environmentalist.
Alessandro CALABRESE let his gaze wander in the Natural Park of Mont Avic with great freedom, without establishing rigid hierarchies or obsessive projects, but revealing and surprising us with their sophistication and sensitivity. This is also the reason why the work takes the form of a precious little book, to be read and carefully guard second nature, that speaks of nature and set of men, in a progressive succession of reflections on the concepts of wilderness and human settlement." (© Luca Andreoni)
Italian description:
"Il lavoro di Alessandro CALABRESE è frutto di una Residenza d’artista realizzata in Valle d’Aosta e si ispira agli scritti di Henry David Thoreau, in particolare a 'Walden, ovvero Vita nei boschi', manifesto di un atteggiamento riguardo al rapporto che abbiamo con la natura il quale ha impregnato tutta la cultura americana e ambientalista.
Alessandro CALABRESE lascia vagabondare il proprio sguardo nel Parco Naturale del Mont Avic con grande libertà, senza stabilire rigide gerarchie o progetti ossessivi, bensì rivelandoci relazioni e sorprendendoci con la loro raffinatezza e sensibilità. Anche per questo il lavoro prende la forma di un libricino prezioso, da sfogliare e custodire con cura anch’esso seconda natura, che ci parla di natura e insieme di uomini, in un progressivo alternarsi di riflessioni sui concetti di wilderness e antropizzazione." (© Luca Andreoni)
Review: "The work of Alessandro Calabrese is inspired by Walden, also known as Life in the Woods, by Henry David Thoreau, the well-known manifesto of the dualistic and hostile relationship between man and nature. The book, presented by the italian publisher Skinnerboox, contains a series of images which the author made in the summer 2012 during an artist in residence program at the Park of Mont Avic, curated by Luca Andreoni at the conclusion of the Master of Photography and Visual Design of Forma.
It is a look onto the mountain nature, cruel and majestic, that strongly disciplines each life form that wants to stay alive. Alessandro’s eyes capture each aspect of this triumph of rocks and wildness, by deeply examining each single wrinkle with the purpose of finding all the details, but also by looking at recordings made by CCTVs positioned inside the park in order to better understand the slow trend of nature when unaffected by humans.
The photographs follow each other quickly, with a rhythm that better adheres to nature, that rhythm that men fail to control, in fact they only devastate the land by leaving their sign
There is an umbilical cord that links each photograph, and it often appears like a line described in the photographs themselves, and these lines become rivers, mountains, roads, rusted wires, each element composes a mosaic on which men want to naturalise themselves but nature always wins. No matter what." (Mariella Amabili)
"Alessandro CALABRESE’s work is the result of an artist residence conducted between 2012 and 2013 in Valle d’Aosta.
The serie is inspired by the writings of Henry David Thoreau, especially 'Walden, Life in the woods', a manifesto about the relationship between man and nature which has permeated the entire American culture and environmentalist.
Alessandro CALABRESE let his gaze wander in the Natural Park of Mont Avic with great freedom, without establishing rigid hierarchies or obsessive projects, but revealing and surprising us with their sophistication and sensitivity. This is also the reason why the work takes the form of a precious little book, to be read and carefully guard second nature, that speaks of nature and set of men, in a progressive succession of reflections on the concepts of wilderness and human settlement." (© Luca Andreoni)
Italian description:
"Il lavoro di Alessandro CALABRESE è frutto di una Residenza d’artista realizzata in Valle d’Aosta e si ispira agli scritti di Henry David Thoreau, in particolare a 'Walden, ovvero Vita nei boschi', manifesto di un atteggiamento riguardo al rapporto che abbiamo con la natura il quale ha impregnato tutta la cultura americana e ambientalista.
Alessandro CALABRESE lascia vagabondare il proprio sguardo nel Parco Naturale del Mont Avic con grande libertà, senza stabilire rigide gerarchie o progetti ossessivi, bensì rivelandoci relazioni e sorprendendoci con la loro raffinatezza e sensibilità. Anche per questo il lavoro prende la forma di un libricino prezioso, da sfogliare e custodire con cura anch’esso seconda natura, che ci parla di natura e insieme di uomini, in un progressivo alternarsi di riflessioni sui concetti di wilderness e antropizzazione." (© Luca Andreoni)
Review: "The work of Alessandro Calabrese is inspired by Walden, also known as Life in the Woods, by Henry David Thoreau, the well-known manifesto of the dualistic and hostile relationship between man and nature. The book, presented by the italian publisher Skinnerboox, contains a series of images which the author made in the summer 2012 during an artist in residence program at the Park of Mont Avic, curated by Luca Andreoni at the conclusion of the Master of Photography and Visual Design of Forma.
It is a look onto the mountain nature, cruel and majestic, that strongly disciplines each life form that wants to stay alive. Alessandro’s eyes capture each aspect of this triumph of rocks and wildness, by deeply examining each single wrinkle with the purpose of finding all the details, but also by looking at recordings made by CCTVs positioned inside the park in order to better understand the slow trend of nature when unaffected by humans.
The photographs follow each other quickly, with a rhythm that better adheres to nature, that rhythm that men fail to control, in fact they only devastate the land by leaving their sign
There is an umbilical cord that links each photograph, and it often appears like a line described in the photographs themselves, and these lines become rivers, mountains, roads, rusted wires, each element composes a mosaic on which men want to naturalise themselves but nature always wins. No matter what." (Mariella Amabili)
- Book design
- Valentina CASALI
- Format
- Bodonian HC (no dust jacket, as issued)), 15 x 18,5 x 1,5 cm., 80 pp., color ills., no text - Ltd. to 200 copies