La sfida di Marsia / Verso il supplizio di Marsia

La sfida di Marsia / Verso il supplizio di Marsia

(The challenge of Marsyas / Towards the torture of Marsyas - Installation, 2010 – 2014, boxwood double-piped reed aulos 24cm, boxwood double-piped reed aulos 16 cm, glass display case 100 x 70 cm, audio 3'48", speakers, mixer)

For several years, I've been doing a historical research on an unhistorical subject, the myth. I've been using archaeological, historical and scientific means to examine something that I've assumed as real. Specifically, the subject of my research is Marsyas's challenge addressed to Apollo. The final result is an approximation, which I try to make correspond, as closely as possible, to a reality that is entirely factitious. In other words, I'm seeking for the history outside the history.

My intention is to draw a parallel between the myth, narrated, among others, by Ovid, and the failure that characterizes the process of this project: the challenge of the Phrygian satyr to his god turns into my own challenge to the attempt of giving life to any kind of artistic creation.

The final product of my research is a reconstruction of the couple of double-piped aulos used by Marsyas (La sfida di Marsia) and the music played by him for the famous challenge (Verso il supplizio di Marsia).