A Room of One’s Own intertwines space and emotion to create a private place where you can observe the reality from a different point of view.
Inspired by the concept of “liminal space” developed by the anthropologist Arnold van Gennep, the installation functions as an unconventional device to unlock all the restraints accumulated during the lockdown.
A liminal space is a transitional place between spaces – a now between before and after.
People crave for predictability in their life, but in a liminal space - like in Urso’s work - any predictability is denied.
From the outside the room appears to be a tiny cube, but when inside the installation expands and extends the space beyond its claustrophobic walls.
An immersive video experience that turns this enclosed space into a bird hide which then reveals the outside world to the watchers.
Bloomsbury Festival 2023 - St Pancras New Church
An audio installation in four languages (English, German, French, and Italian) that aims to create an intimate place where you can wander, pause, and listen to Orpheus wailing in despair at Eurydice’s death.
Orpheus descended to the underworld to rescue his wife from the realm of the dead, but his attempt failed, and Eurydice was condemned to the underworld forever.
A Lump in the Throat functions as a memorial for the Coronavirus victims all over the world, but also acknowledges the millions of people who have recovered from the illness, some of them coming back from an induced coma. Fortunately, and unlike Eurydice in the Greek myth, they are able to breathe again and perhaps, hearing Orpheus’ lament, they might come to terms with their own trauma, and join the singer Anastasia Jones in her performance.
The aria Che farò senza Euridice? from Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice is played by the St Paul’s Girls’ School Chamber Orchestra and conducted by Leigh O’Hara.
A Lump in the Throat - Bloomsbury Festival 2022 - St George’s Bloomsbury, London
https://saltertonartsreview.com/2022/10/bloomsbury-festival-2022/
Life and death are intrinsically embedded in Adam & Eve, an unfinished installation hanging over Sir John Soane’s window.
Inspired by an uncompleted engraving by Albrecht Dürer, I outlined his figures on the tracing paper. Then I worked on the background, filling the space with hundreds of white skulls, leaving out only the silhouettes of the young couple.
Although invisible, the couple was defined by a semi-transparent background filled with thousands of human skulls, while the snake was lurking around, waiting.
Finally, I placed the ghostly tableau over the window, and then suddenly the tracing paper was struck by sunlight and the figures of Adam and Eve glowed - my unfinished creation was completed.
Last Sunset ~ New Sunrise - St John on Bethnal Green, London
In Following the Footsteps of the Disappeared, Giuseppe Mario Urso presents Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and The Statue of Liberty as mirror images. Each wears the clothes and colours of the other and their bases connect via a fragile transparent division.
These two iconic symbols are laden with meaning. For the mothers of the disappeared in Mexico, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe envelops the unbearable anguish of their loss and extends comfort. The Statue of Liberty has become the symbol of emigration, simultaneously conveying pain for the lost home country and hope for a better life in the new one.
In removing these icons from their traditional pedestals, Urso allows “these two great ladies who stand far apart, yet who share similar values and hopes” to converse with the viewer in a new way. He presents them as “neighbours not strangers, standing in perfect composure, mirroring one another”. He reflects: [This] "upside-down installation… defying gravity, encourages us to come close, reflect, and observe reality with fresh eyes”.
For Giuseppe, their very proximity raises an intimate question: "Are we different or are we the same?"
(Roberta Bacic Conflict Textiles)
Following the Footsteps of the Disappeared
Casa Seminario 12 - Mexico City
Is this the American Dream? by Giuseppe Mario Urso is a witty pastiche using three American icons to question our preconceptions.
What could be more American than a statue created in Paris, a drink combining coca leaves from the Andes and Kola nuts from Africa, or chewing gum that originated 6000 years ago in Finland?
Tätäkö on amerikkalainen unelma? on nokkela pastissi, joka käytään kolmea amerikkalaista ikonia kyseenalaistamaan yleisön ennakkokäsityksiä.
Mikä voisi olla amerikkalaisempaa kuin patsas, joka on tehty Pariisissa, juoma, joka yhdistää kokapensaan lehtiä Andeilta ja kolapähkinöitä Afrikasta, tai purukumi, joka kehitettiin Suomessa yli 6000 vuotta sitten?
Myymälä2, Helsinki, Finland
The connection between the Globe (the signifier) and its abstract concept (the signified) is so immediate that there is no perception of any separation inside Saussure's ellipse.
The everyday exposure of the sign/the Globe has dissolved the invisible bar that divides its two distinct moments of awareness.
The ellipse has deflated, revealing a new world. The separation between the North and the South has disappeared. The desecration of the original sign, now squashed into its new shape, reveals uncharted paths and connections, encouraging the mind to experience new meanings and realities.
Window 3 - Central Saint Martins, London
Neo Norte Manifesto
Window 3 Central Saint Martins, London
Curator: Tere Chad
Two Felt Heads: Nataly Pérez
Mannequin: Clarisa Serafim
Where is the North?: Giuseppe Mario Urso
Map, videos & collage: Latinos Creative Society
Other collage: Emiliano Derokha
Support Bubble is a micro short film (81 sec) produced during the first lockdown - together but "not together" - with the Argentinian artist César Baracca.
Copyright © GM Urso 2022