Credits: Original images by NASA / ESA/Hubble (various authors), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi. Scroll down to see the full list.
LO SGUARDO DEL VIAGGIATORE IMMOBILE
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2023 | 24 handmade Polaroids | 10,7x9 cm each
The gaze of the motionless traveler does not belong to the world of history, of circumstances, of the contingent. The ecstatic expression that distinguishes it takes it back to an absolute dimension in which what matters are not the distances, the measurements, but the possibility of traveling and exploring a new space. The project consists of twenty-four snapshots that suggest a journey into the universe documented through a popular medium with a vintage charm, the Polaroid, whose lens works exceptionally like that of a telescope that allows the vision of distant space objects. Expanding the limits of this tool - usually able to get photo prints in a relatively short time after a shot - Elena Grossi relates power and vision. In fact, the work bears the traces of a presence, that of the artist who “looking out” at her computer screen imagines setting out to explore a virtual, simulated cosmos, delivering us the evidence of her tireless wandering. A sort of flâneur we would say or, better, a cyberflâneur, a solitary net surfer who out of curiosity and voyeurism observes the multifaceted digital spectacle, moved more by the desire to get lost than to find. As a true wanderer, Elena follows random itineraries, never planned, from which, however, she remains physically extraneous. The artist’s gaze, her eyes, at this point are inserted into galaxies and nebulae, becoming a way to impose one’s presence elsewhere, to make that dimension one’s own, to appear briefly on stage as happens in a cinematic cameo. This allows for a reversibility of the image, an overturned point of view that makes us reflect on the always interchangeable relationship between the observer and the one being observed. The centrality of each iris, not surprisingly, is frozen in an immobile fixity, as if to tell us that the gaze of the motionless traveler is always turned inward before being turned outward. Travel, therefore, as a metaphor for a visual wandering in which the macrocosm and the microcosm are correlative. |
2023 | 24 Polaroid realizzate a mano | 10,7x9 cm ognuna
Lo sguardo del viaggiatore immobile non appartiene al mondo della storia, delle circostanze, del contingente. L’espressione estatica che lo contraddistingue lo restituisce ad una dimensione assoluta in cui ciò che conta non sono le distanze, le misure, ma la possibilità di percorrere ed esplorare uno spazio inedito. Il progetto è composto da ventiquattro istantanee che suggeriscono un viaggio nell’universo documentato attraverso un mezzo popolare dal fascino vintage, la Polaroid, il cui obiettivo funziona eccezionalmente come quello di un telescopio che permette la visione di oggetti spaziali lontani. Espandendo i limiti di questo strumento - solitamente in grado di ottenere stampe fotografiche in tempi relativamente brevi a seguito di uno scatto - Elena Grossi mette in relazione il potere e la visione. L’opera porta infatti le tracce di una presenza, quella dell’artista che “affacciandosi” allo schermo del proprio computer immagina di partire all’esplorazione di un cosmo virtuale, simulato, consegnandoci le prove del suo instancabile vagabondare. Una sorta di flâneur diremmo, meglio ancora di cyberflâneur, un solitario navigatore della rete che per curiosità e voyeurismo osserva il multiforme spettacolo del digitale, mosso più dal desiderio di perdersi che di trovare. Da vera errante, Elena percorre itinerari casuali, mai programmati, dai quali però rimane fisicamente estranea. Lo sguardo dell’artista, i suoi occhi, a questo punto vengono inseriti all’interno di galassie e nebulose diventando un modo per imporre la propria presenza sull’altrove, per fare propria quella dimensione, per apparire brevemente in scena come accade in un cameo cinematografico. Ciò consente una reversibilità dell’immagine, un punto di vista ribaltato che ci fa riflettere sul rapporto sempre interscambiabile tra chi osserva e chi viene osservato. La centralità di ciascun’iride, non a caso, è congelata in un’immobile fissità, come a dirci che lo sguardo del viaggiatore immobile è sempre rivolto al suo interno prima che su un esterno. Viaggio, dunque, come metafora di un’erranza visiva in cui il macrocosmo ed il microcosmo sono correlativi. |
Image credits from top to bottom, left to right:
1. A glowing pool of light. Original image by Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA/NASA/ESA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
2. Planetary Nebula. Original image by Matt Bobrowsky (CTA INCORPORATED), and NASA/ESA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
3. A new view of the Helix Nebula. Original image by NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon (Space Telescope Science Institute), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
4. Hubble image of the Ring Nebula (Messier 57). Original image by NASA, ESA, and C. Robert O’Dell (Vanderbilt University), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
5. NGC 5307. Original image by NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
6. Planetary nebula K 4-55. Original image by NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Acknowledgment: R. Sahai and J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
7. Hubble reveals NGC 2440. Original image by NASA, ESA, and K. Noll (STScI), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
8. The beauty of asymmetry. Original image by ESA/Hubble & NASA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
9. The Cat's Eye Nebula imaged with the Nordic Optical Telescope. Original image by Nordic Optical Telescope and Romano Corradi (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, Spain), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
10. The region around the Ring Nebula (Hubble/LBT composite). Original image by Credit for Hubble data: NASA, ESA, C. Robert O’Dell (Vanderbilt University), and David Thompson (LBTO), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
11. Iridescent Glory of Nearby Planetary Nebula Showcased on Astronomy Day. Original image by NASA, NOAO, ESA, the Hubble Helix Nebula Team, M. Meixner (STScI), and T.A. Rector (NRAO), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
12. The glowing eye of NGC 6751. Original image by NASA/ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
13. A Passing Fancy. Original image by ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Wade et al., digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
14. The Spirograph Nebula. Original image by NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
15. IC 4593. Original image by NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
16. Webb’s First Images. Original image by NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and the Webb ERO Production Team, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
17. Looking down a barrel of gas at a doomed star. Original image by Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA/ESA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
18. A piercing eye in the sky. Original image by ESA/Hubble and NASA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
19. Hubble-X in galaxy NGC 6822. Original image by NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
20. Most detailed image of the Crab Nebula. Original image by NASA, ESA and Allison Loll/Jeff Hester (Arizona State University). Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
21. Hubble - The Ghostbuster. Original image by NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
22. Composite ultraviolet-visible-infrared image of NGC 1512. Original image by NASA, ESA, Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and Columbia University, USA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
23. NGC 7662. Original image by Bruce Balick and Jason Alexander (University of Washington), Arsen Hajian (S. Naval Observatory), Yervant Terzian (Cornell University), Mario Perinotto (University of Florence), Patrizio Patriarchi (Arcetri Observatory) and NASA/ESA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
24. Globular clusters surrounding the Milky Way (artist’s impression). Original image by ESA/Hubble, NASA, L. Calçada, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
1. A glowing pool of light. Original image by Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA/NASA/ESA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
2. Planetary Nebula. Original image by Matt Bobrowsky (CTA INCORPORATED), and NASA/ESA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
3. A new view of the Helix Nebula. Original image by NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon (Space Telescope Science Institute), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
4. Hubble image of the Ring Nebula (Messier 57). Original image by NASA, ESA, and C. Robert O’Dell (Vanderbilt University), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
5. NGC 5307. Original image by NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
6. Planetary nebula K 4-55. Original image by NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Acknowledgment: R. Sahai and J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
7. Hubble reveals NGC 2440. Original image by NASA, ESA, and K. Noll (STScI), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
8. The beauty of asymmetry. Original image by ESA/Hubble & NASA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
9. The Cat's Eye Nebula imaged with the Nordic Optical Telescope. Original image by Nordic Optical Telescope and Romano Corradi (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, Spain), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
10. The region around the Ring Nebula (Hubble/LBT composite). Original image by Credit for Hubble data: NASA, ESA, C. Robert O’Dell (Vanderbilt University), and David Thompson (LBTO), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
11. Iridescent Glory of Nearby Planetary Nebula Showcased on Astronomy Day. Original image by NASA, NOAO, ESA, the Hubble Helix Nebula Team, M. Meixner (STScI), and T.A. Rector (NRAO), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
12. The glowing eye of NGC 6751. Original image by NASA/ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
13. A Passing Fancy. Original image by ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Wade et al., digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
14. The Spirograph Nebula. Original image by NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
15. IC 4593. Original image by NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
16. Webb’s First Images. Original image by NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and the Webb ERO Production Team, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
17. Looking down a barrel of gas at a doomed star. Original image by Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA/ESA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
18. A piercing eye in the sky. Original image by ESA/Hubble and NASA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
19. Hubble-X in galaxy NGC 6822. Original image by NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
20. Most detailed image of the Crab Nebula. Original image by NASA, ESA and Allison Loll/Jeff Hester (Arizona State University). Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
21. Hubble - The Ghostbuster. Original image by NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
22. Composite ultraviolet-visible-infrared image of NGC 1512. Original image by NASA, ESA, Dan Maoz (Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and Columbia University, USA), digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
23. NGC 7662. Original image by Bruce Balick and Jason Alexander (University of Washington), Arsen Hajian (S. Naval Observatory), Yervant Terzian (Cornell University), Mario Perinotto (University of Florence), Patrizio Patriarchi (Arcetri Observatory) and NASA/ESA, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
24. Globular clusters surrounding the Milky Way (artist’s impression). Original image by ESA/Hubble, NASA, L. Calçada, digitally manipulated by Elena Grossi.
