La terra finisce qui
(The earth ends here)
Performance
August 22, 2023,
Ancona, Italia
Material: 16 chalks.
Photos: Valentina Pergolotti, Gianluca.
In this performance, I revisit the concept of line-boundary-connection.
The action La terra finisce qui, lasting 168 minutes, connects the steps in front of the door of my paternal grandparents’ last house in Ancona, now uninhabited, to the city’s beach through a white line drawn on the ground with chalk.
The performance begins with the writing of the words: “LA TERRA” (the earth). The last letter, A, extends all the way to the sea, winding through a continuous line drawn on the ground. The action concludes at the point where the saltwater meets the earth, with the writing of the words in uppercase: “FINISCE QUI” (ends here), and with my finger touching the sea water.
The line spans 1,832 meters.
La terra finisce qui is an ideal continuation of the line I began drawing at the top of the waterfall—first a red fabric line, then a white chalk line, yet always aquatic—beginning and ending in the water.
La terra finisce qui expresses the need for a meeting with the sea, with its open horizon, tracing a primordial imprint that calls the water within me to unite viscerally with the water that permeates the globe.
With this performance, I leave a small trace of chalk dust in the place where I find myself moving. A question mark, a query, an anomaly that might bring a smile to those who see the line and choose to follow it.
