In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth) punished for chronic deceitfulness by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this action forever.
His punishment is "regenerated" every time the boulder reaches the top of the hill and falls down.
Nuda Proprietà - Curated by Roberto D'onorio
Sisyphus is a performance consisting in scratching with a coin, the floor of a room covered in silver film.
The work thus focuses on the act of scratching a silver surface. This action refers explicitly to "scratch and win" cards: the subject puts trust in this act with unmotivated faith, a hope so feeble that can only be interpreted as an act of desperation.
Nuda Proprietà - Curated by Roberto D'onorio
Usually the subjects of such acts are members of the most disadvantaged classes of society, the ones deprived of solid hopes for the future. During the economic crisis of 2008 Lottomatica, the Italian public company managing games and gambling structures, became the third largest company in the Italian economy. "Scratch and win", therefore, becomes the symbol of widespread and deep desperation.
Nuda Proprietà - Curated by Roberto D'onorio
Nevertheless the feeble hope lit up by the act of scratching is enough to fill their hearts.
This act of hope, destined to end repeatedly in disillusionment/disappointment, is the damnation of the modern Sisyphus, condemned to push a rock uphill and forced each time to see it rolling down for all eternity. .
Nuda Proprietà - Curated by Roberto D'onorio
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