Survival Kit | Bellissima

Deborah Ligorio, Survival Kit - Bellissima, 2012, bronze, 19x12x9 cm.

The Survival Kit Bellissima is dedicated to Luchino Visconti's film (with the same title, 1951) and in particular to the aspirations and desperation, expectation and projections, of the mother Maddalena (Anna Magnani) towards her daughter and the dream of making her become a young actress in Cinecittà.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions: How did you started to work on “Survival Kits”? 

Deborah Ligorio: In a poetic or ironic mood I imagined survival kits for situations that may result from the economic crisis, like the loss of job or the house loss together with consequences like having to move in the office space or back to the parents' house. Situations that can be connected to mass phenomena like brain drain or foreclosure. Natural catastrophes like earthquakes and floods may also inspire some of the survival kits, but not as apocalyptic scenarios, rather in the way they shape everyday life. 



FAQ: How do they deal with the slogan “we are the 99 %”? Why the assemblage and the bronze? 
DL: The way I make editions of the Survival Kits refers to the idea of the 1% and the 99 %. Even though I think that the slogan “we are the 99%” is imprecise, I find it interesting to elaborate on it. The kits made for the 99 are assemblages of objects - for instance an ethernet cable, a toothbrush, and a plastic cup. I also insert a “collaged part” that is meant to work as visual instruction. Almost like an etiquette, it becomes the most allusive element, for example when I place the image of a superhero on the plastic cup. The kit for the “ones” is a bronze, a cast of the very same assemblage. 





FAQ: Are the kits editions or unique pieces?
DL: The “ninety-nine's” kits come as an edition of 99, while the bronze is always one unique piece. This way, the technical relations are put upside down. Normally one would assume that the bronze is a reproduced item and whereas the manual assemblage is unique. But in fact, it is easier