Hardback, 62 pages, Full colour illustrations, W180mm x H 250mm
The book accompanies an exhibition of twenty pieces documenting the main
themes of Claudia Losi's research: geography with creations on maps and
her own knowledge of the field in the sense of a complex and ongoing
relationship with open spaces and the component parts, from natural
elements to fauna, from changes in the landscape to the community that
lives there.
The exhibit also features nearly six years of work following the
whale's travels, that led to many encounters and different types of
cooperative efforts. Through this journey, with the skills of
communities of women, ceramists and video-makers, the artist created, a
"wealth of feeling” that now comprises an important part of the
Balenaproject.
A long, long time ago whales swam between the Apennines, in a sea that
has been replaced by the sky. These are Claudia Losi's words for
explaining how the idea for her whale was born. Made of wool fabrics,
in the shape and size of the Mediterranean Balena Physalus (23 meters
long) the whale was sewn at the Lanifici Botto e Boglietti amidst the
Biella hills in Piemonte. Just like an ancient marvel, it draws ideas,
looks and gestures, and it triggers stories and brings back memories
especially when it is displayed far from the sea.