Luisa Turuani, 2023
Measures: 13 x 18,5 cm
Pages: 104
Technique: Digital print; Sewn binding; Internal paper: Arena Natural Rough Paper gr. 120; Cover paper: Pearl colored Sirius paper gr. 290
Edition: 250
"1 second 1 gram" is a performative and collaborative project that transforms quantities of time into material, easily manipulable quantities such as clay. During a series of international events, people can take time, hold it in their hands, stroke it, and shape it. The book collects photographs, notes, and reflections from those who took part in the project; in other words, its pages trace a physical and poetic journey toward reclaiming a lost asset: time.
"1 Second 1 Gram" reflects on the weight of time and on humanity’s attempts to manipulate, manage, and consume a dimension that, in contemporary life, has become increasingly elusive and difficult to define. The action arises from a sense of lack and from the difficulty of keeping up with time.
From a practical point of view, the project takes the form of a performance that unfolds as both an individual and a collective act. Visitors are asked how much time they desire; this choice is personal, inviolable, and non-retroactive. The amount of time requested is converted into an equivalent amount of clay according to the ratio 1 second = 1 gram.
Participants are free to shape the clay in whatever way they deem appropriate for the allotted time; a timer monitors their activity and signals when the available duration is coming to an end. Once the time is over, they leave behind the clay and the timer and may exit the space. The clay pieces shaped by the visitors are then exhibited, giving rise to a show that is built simultaneously with the performance itself. In this way, the public takes time, holds it in their hands, touches it, and manipulates it.
We live in an era of frenetic transformation, marked by abrupt accelerations and decelerations, urgent deadlines, and constant updates. The result is a society that is exhausted and deprived of a primary and essential good: time. "1 Second 1 Gram" seeks to raise questions about the meaning of making time as well as making space; it offers back a lost dimension of gratuity and grace, and calls each individual to take responsibility within a collective. In other words, "1 Second 1 Gram" lends time, opens a parenthesis, with the intention of returning to everyday life with the renewed strength to continue making space and making time. The performance allows people to rediscover lost time, offering a space not oriented toward a result, but dedicated to the pure pleasure of reawakening a dormant desire.
It is also possible to take part in the performance through a kit that allows anyone to carry it out whenever and wherever they wish. Inside the vacuum-sealed bag are 300 grams of clay (corresponding to 5 minutes), a timer, and simple instructions for use. Unlike the collective performances, the kit offers a more intimate, almost “at-home” experience. Since the package is designed to easily reach anyone anywhere in the world, around 200 kits have been sent worldwide, particularly to major museums, foundations, and non-profit spaces. Each kit is not industrially produced but entirely made by the artist; it is therefore both an artwork to be kept sealed in time and a tool for the realization of a unique and unrepeatable experience.
The publication is part of a project supported by the Italian Council (Edition XI, 2022), the program aimed at supporting Italian contemporary art in the world promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity within the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Main partners:
MODO asbl, (Bruxelles, Belgium)
OnCurating Project Space (Zurich, Switzerland)
Kuona Artists Collective (Nairobi, Kenya)
La Rada (Locarno, Switzerland)
BAC (Berna, Switzerland)
Italian Institute of Culture in Zurich (Switzerland)
Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage (Santiago, Chile)
Coro Croata Jadran (Antofagasta, Chile)
International Museum of Ceramics (Faenza, Italy)
Careof (Milan, Italy)
Contemporary Locus (Bergamo, Italy)
Fondazione Lac o Le Mon (Lecce, Italy)
Brera Academy of Fine Arts (Milan, Italy)
Academy of Fine Arts in Venezia (Venezia, Italy)
Academy of Fine Arts in Verona (Verona, Italy)
Associazione Culturale Techne (Brescia, Italy)
Texts:
L. Turuani
Photo credits:
S. Ambrosini, L. Portesan, L. Turuani
Graphic:
E. Biondelli, L. Turuani