Fondazione Elpis and Galleria Continua
ISAAC CHONG WAI:
Post-Mythical Accidents
Commissioned by Fondazione Elpis and in collaboration with Galleria Continua
26 Jun till 18 Sept 2022
Castiglione di Sicilia
The third edition of Una Boccata d’Artebegins from 25th June to 18th September 2022 - a widespread contemporary art project by Fondazione Elpis, in collaboration with Galleria Continuaand with the participation of Threes Productions, takes place throughout Italy and promotes a coming together of contemporary art with the country’s artistic and scenic heritage through art installations, exhibitions and performances by 20 artists in 20 villages, one for each region.
The village of Castiglione di Sicilia (CT) in Sicily will welcome Post-Mythical Accidents by the artist Isaac Chong Wai, a site-specific intervention inspired by the history and the identity of the village, conceived after a short residency period.
Post-Mythical Accidents is a widespread project of five installations that intertwine reality, myth, religion and magic. Isaac Chong Wai: “Nature, religions, myths and beliefs can never be explained without the desires and needs of man. If I delve into the history of Castiglione di Sicilia, I see the trace of religion and mythology. The country's culture, history and religion intersect with its geographical location at the foot of Mount Etna, a living volcano that threatens potential disasters and accidents. On the basis of local myths, for each work of art I have created post-myths that connect religious or architectural objects, designed to satisfy people's spiritual, physical and political desires, with the stories of the mythological characters of Etna such as Vulcan, Cyclops, Typhon, Odysseus and Zeus. When our supposed world of reality is explained through myths whose character contains something irrational, it is as if an accident is generated. Reflecting on the creation of myths and the power of narratives integrated into a religious, cultural or political context, I am interested in underlining the absurdity of an anthropocentric approach, committed to the attempt to control nature and the immanence that instead distinguishes the indomitable essence of nature itself".
Text by Giulia Pollicita
Post-Mythical Accidents is a widespread public work by Berlin-based artist Isaac Chong Wai who investigates the layered complexity inscribed in the landscape of eastern Sicily. Intertwining reality, myth, religion and magic, Chong's intervention unfolds in a series of installations scattered around the village of Castiglione di Sicilia.
Observing the wonder and constant fear of living at the foot of Mount Etna - source of life and constant threat of uncertain benevolence at the same time - the artist reflects on how the uncontrollable force of nature shapes a sense of immanence in human thought and behavior. Taking refuge in myth, faith or superstition, we try to scoff at fate and explore the mystery of nature. By forcing the unexplainable into the creation of myths and narratives, human beings pigeonhole what they cannot foresee within an anthropocentric vision.
The installations Accidental Confessional and Lightless Chandelier investigate the persistence of myth and religion, intertwining traces of Homer with the Christian tradition.
Accidental Lava Stone hits a Facist Ornament connect with the Mediterranean legend of Ulysses and Polyphemus and the myth of the Faraglioni from Acitrezza, interacting with the surrounding area and recent history.
Shangai (2022), well-known as Mikado game in Italy, represents the scene in which mystification, exoticism and different cultures alternate without rules, depending on an order set by the real and the unreal, history and myth, religion and the primitive instinct of survival.
In this context, the "post-mythical" represents a hybrid area where the rules of reality are suspended and a new order is established by narrative, fiction, fantasy and magic.
Acknowledgments
Marina Nissim, Bruno Barsanti, Maurizio Rigillo, the staff of Fondazione Elpis and Galleria Continua, Serena Guarino, Elisabetta Negroni, Antonio Camarda - Mayor of Castiglione di Sicilia, Michele La Rosa, Don Orazio Greco, Moiz Zilberman, Zilberman Gallery, Renato Leotta, Istituto Sicilia, Paolo Fontana, Lotte Laub, Gizem Demirçelik, Leo Gerstberger, Isidoro Mazza and Anna Mignosa, Mariavittoria Capodicasa, Annalaura Capodicasa and Sergio Pollicita.
Photo taken by: Luca Guarnieri