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INSTALLATION:
THROUGH THE EYE OF THE UNICORN
Giovanni Aloi and Jenny Kendler have been invited by the Chicago Botanic Garden to create a living installation based on the famous "Renaissance Unicorn Tapestries" on permanent display at the MET Cloisters in NYC. The most iconic panel in the series shows the mythical animal, believed to possess curative and supernatural powers, captive, wounded, and trapped in a small fence surrounded by a wonderfully biodiverse meadow in bloom. Aloi and Kendler’s installation interprets the fence as a symbol of the constriction imposed on the natural world. The installation spills out beneath the fence’s gate, bringing the rewilding of the prairie to the monotony of the common lawn.
The plants-studded gravel mounds inside the fence of Through the eye of the unicorn are a reconstructed fragment of Bell Bowl, a rare and precious 8000-year-old dolomite prairie brimming with biodiversity that was recently bulldozed for an unnecessary access road by the Chicago-Rockford International Airport. Today, only 3 acres of this once vast and very precious prairie survive and so this project stands as a memorial to this irretrievable loss. The work asks: As only the smallest fragments of original prairie remain, how could this have been allowed to happen?
In folk tales, unicorns are often characterized as elusive creatures, capable of becoming invisible. Only those with a kind and attentive predisposition can detect their presence. Over time, the magical beauty of natural environments like Bell Bowl Prairie has also become invisible to us, to the point where our laws and culture somehow allow for their reckless destruction. Like tapestries, prairies are the result of intricate enmeshments between many, often invisible, organisms. How can we attune ourselves to the complex beauty of these ancient and sacred places again?
On show at the Chicago Botanic Garden until September 22nd.
Left: Through the eye of the unicorn, 2024, Gravel and soil mound with plant species native to Bell Bowl Prairie, cedar fence, recycled polyester “silk” flags with silk-screened pigment, upcycled poles, and hardware. The Unicorn Rests in the Garden, from the 'Hunt for the Unicorn Tapestries', 1495–1505.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York;
MAKER
INSTALLATION:
PRAIRIE DEATH MASK (BELL BOWL PRAIRIE)
On Sunday the 22nd, of September, 2024, as Through the eye of the unicorn' - the collaboration between Jenny Kendler and Giovanni Aloi at CBG closed - the second chapter of the Bell Bowl Prairie focussed artworks at 6018|North in Chicago, opened. Prairie Death Mask (Bell Bowl Prairie) plaster, soil from Bell Bowl Prairie, frosted crystal vinyl, 2024. On March 9th 2023, despite the campaign efforts of organizers who tirelessly mobilized to raise public awareness, a large part of Bell Bowl Prairie in Rockford—an 8000 years old irreplaceable ecosystem—was destroyed to make way for the Chicago Rockford International Airport’s cargo expansion.A few days after the event, Jenny Kendler and Giovanni Aloi traveled to a nearby forest preserve where the Bell Bowl Prairie earth was relocated in an attempt to salvage some biodiversity. They found a field of bare soil, where the tire marks left by bulldozers had compressed and scarred the once fertile, ancient loam. Faced with the devastation, Aloi and Kendler sought to create a death mask of the prairie employing conventional casting techniques historically reserved for monarchs, military heroes, and eminent cultural icons to immortalise their likeness shortly after passing. This solemn record points to the indissoluble continuity between our bodies and those of the ecosystems upon which the life of this planet depends. Behind the mask, a muted “stained glass” window composed of Bell Bowl Prairie blooms evokes the faded memory of a once thriving and irreplaceable environment.On show at 6018 | North as part of the exhibition 'Myth of the Organic City' curated by Tricia Van Eck and featuring the work of many exciting artists engaging with the Anthropocene.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Aloi studied photography theory and black and white printing techniques at the London College of Printing. He has exhibited work in the UK and Italy. His body of work explores our relationship with nature and is structured around thematic series that often remain indefenately open as ongoing studies.
DEDICATED "MAKER" WEBSITE - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
PAINTING
Metamorphic Iconostasis is a series of seven byzantine icons representing different species of butterfly chrysalis. Each is painted on an original gessoed icon board custom made in Ukraine and leafed with 24kt gold. Egg tempera and oil on 60x40 cm oak wood. Made between 2019 and 2021. More on "MAKER" wesbite.
SOUNDSCAPE
Moths is a series of neo-classical piano pieces and electronic elements composed and recorded between 2016 and 2020. These tracks are sedimentations of moods and thoughts that have defined my experiences as a member of the LGBTQ+ community after moving to the United States at a time of intense political and social tension. Recurring motives, compositional circularities, and occasional bursts of light outline a journey into a dark undergrowth of mostly melancholic soundscapes.
Released on vinyl 12" and digital download by Blue Spiral Records
VIDEOPOETRY
This piece of videopoetry is a creative response to Aldo Leopold's 1949 ‘A Sand County Almanac’ commissioned by 'Nature Art and Habitat', an Eco-laboratory of Multidisciplinary Practices that looks at the relationship between nature and culture. The video was presented at the “Coexistence: Interdependence Between Species” symposium held on April 17th, 2021 and screened at the Angewandte Film Festival in July 2021.
MORE INFO AND RESOURCES
ANTENNAE:
THE JOURNAL OF NATURE
IN VISUAL CULTURE
Founded in 2006 by Giovanni Aloi, Antennae is the leading journal on nature, the environment, and art. A peer-reviewed, hybrid, journal free to the public. Download all issues free and stay up to date with current news.
Visit Giovanni Aloi's faculty page at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Giovanni Aloi's academia.edu site features downloadable essays, book chapters, and video recordings of talks and other events.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Aloi studied photography theory and black and white printing techniques at the London College of Printing. He has exhibited work in the UK and Italy. His body of work explores our relationship with nature and is structured around thematic series that often remain indefenately open as ongoing studies.
DEDICATED "MAKER" WEBSITE - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
PAINTING
Metamorphic Iconostasis is a series of seven byzantine icons representing different species of butterfly chrysalis. Each is painted on an original gessoed icon board custom made in Ukraine and leafed with 24kt gold. Egg tempera and oil on 60x40 cm oak wood. Made between 2019 and 2021. More on "MAKER" wesbite.