CARRARA – Italy’s first multimedia eco mural, Impollinèmesi, born in Carrara, on the steps of Monterosso, October 14, 2022: a completely new work created by Zed1 with sound interventions by sound engineer Alessio Mosti and sculptural interventions by Silvia. Scaringella, which, while paying tribute to the importance and function of bees in the ecosystem, transforms their sound into music, turning it into a narrative and artistic installation enhanced by intimacy.
A meeting between technology, the environment and the urban, sculptural and musical arts for a new outreach project in the name of sustainable development, created by the social promotion association Aps Oltre with the cooperation and curation of the non-profit organization Yourban2030 in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara under the patronage of the Municipality of Carrara, thanks to the support of the Marble Foundation and the scientific advice of the beekeeper Martina Biga.
To sign Impollinèmesi is Zed1 – already the author of the monumental ecomurales Unlockthechange in Naples for thirty years of the asbestos ban – and, to enrich it, the plastic works of one of the leading sculptors of the contemporary context: Silvia Scaringella. Together with them worked sound artist Alessio Mosti, who turned the singing of bees into a real soundtrack to the work.
In this way, three artists from different backgrounds and distant worlds meet in a project of dialogue between the arts, as well as between ecosystems, to tell and bring back to the visitor the enchanting complexity of the world of bees. A fragile yet ultra-productive ecosystem that three artists wanted to immortalize in an air-cleansing urban artwork that combines sound with sculpture with a very specific goal: to raise awareness among the general public of Goal 15 of the 2030 Agenda, the complex link that connects all biotic and abiotic components of the territory.
“Impollinèmesi”, explains Zed1, “talks about love seen through the eyes of plants. Cupid makes the flowers fall in love by piercing them with arrows, on which, in turn, the bees land. Cupid, however, is not a deity, but humanity itself – new generations – in whose hands the fate of bees and who else can decide to stop the depopulation of this precious species for the entire ecosystem with their conscious intervention.
The composition of sound artist Alessio Mosti makes Impollinèmesi the first multimedia eco-painting in Italy. By approaching the work and creating QR codes, the visitor can listen to the special “soundtrack” of bees: a completely new composition based on the soundscape obtained from samples collected directly from the apiary – in collaboration with the beekeeper Martina Bigi. – collected using experimental field recording methods.
“Using modular synthesizers and machines designed to create electronic music,” explains Alessio Mosti, “I reworked the sound material to correctly introduce harmonic and rhythmic parts. The result was the composition Resisto, consisting of three parts: the first tells about the functioning of the bee as a means of pollination, love; in the second part, the balance of the swarm is disturbed by an element alien to the ecosystem – the vellutina wasp. The conclusion in this case sees the victory of the colony over external threats, globally reflecting on how much the bee is a necessary element even for our very existence on this planet.
In this way, technology meets sound and art, becoming the storytelling of a story that everyone can discover by approaching Impollinemesi: a story of resistance, the protection of biodiversity and the ecosystem, with particular attention to the bees, whose balance is strongly threatened by the vellutina, which arrived in Italy as trade way and seriously changed the balance of these precious insects.
“Just as an ecosystem is a synergy of balance and mutual aid,” says sculptor Silvia Scaringella, “so for Impollinèmesi, we worked in synergy, uniting three limbs for a common message. My sculptural intervention makes the surface of the painting plastic and chiaroscuro, giving more suggestion, playing on the materialization of the picture. Reminiscent of the ornamental facades of the past, bees are often used as an ornament in Roman architecture, a symbol of an urban identity made up of cohabiting communities.”
In fact, it is no coincidence that Impollinemesi was born right in the city located in the park of the Apuan Alps, since 2015 a UNESCO Global Geopark. Here, in fact, contains about 50% of the biodiversity of Tuscany, including some endemics, as well as rare and relic species among the flora and fauna. The guardians and queens of this biodiversity are the bees, which play a vital role in keeping the ecosystem healthy.
“The idea for Impollinèmesi,” says APS Oltre, “was born on the board of our association after the Monte Sagro fire that occurred at the beginning of the year,” says Aps Oltre president Juan Carlos Allende. – l ‘the enormous damage to the flora that caused this event made us think about the fragility of our environment and the importance of protecting it also from elements alien to its essence, such as the presence of Vespa Velutina, which seriously threatens the production of honey. As Aps Oltre, we wanted to continue discussing this issue. From here we have developed, together with Yourban2030, with whom we share the goals of the UN 2030 agenda, this project that manages to bring together three theme-sensitive artists who make their creativity accessible to the community.”
The Marble Foundation, says Bernarda Franchi, president of the Marble Foundation, “wanted to take an active part in this ecological mural, the first of its kind in Italy, because one of our missions is to promote culture and art in our city,” says the president. Foundation Marmo Onlus Bernard Franchi – I do not think it is a coincidence that this multimedia work, in which images are mixed with sounds, has found a place in Carrara: it is a sign of the great potential that our territory and our community, based on a culture that has deep roots and that is why she is able to look into the future and the unseen.”
“For us at Yourban2030,” say Véronique De Angelis and Maura Crudeli of Yourban2030, “Impollinèmesi is a new arrival point and at the same time a starting point: in fact, for some time we have been thinking about how to integrate other arts, always with the aim of raising awareness of the fear we hold dear. This was made possible by Impollinèmesi, the first multimedia and multi-artistic eco-community in Italy: art, sculpture and music meet in a unique and harmonious language, which at the same time becomes a metaphor for the harmony that must accompany the relationship between man and the environment. . It all starts with one of the most complex biodiversities in our country: the world of bees.”