Long-durational performance.
June 23, 2026, 7:00 p.m.–2:30 a.m.
Aluminum blowpipe, plastic, printed acetate.
Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere – Spazio Supernova, Rome, Italy,
From "Più reale del reale" curated by Niccolò Giacomazzi.

Ph. Marcos Mendivil

Il Cecchino stems from a reflection on the growing difficulty of entrusting our vulnerability to others. Despite the proliferation of ways to communicate, personal vulnerabilities seem to find increasingly little space in everyday relationships, shaped by accelerated rhythms and constant processes of self-representation. In this context, forums, digital platforms, and chatbots become places where people confide thoughts and fears that struggle to find a receptive ear within their closest relationships. The performance emerged from a personal experience of communicative paralysis, from the difficulty of translating what I was feeling into words capable of reaching another person. I wrote a long letter, which I then divided into dozens of fragments, making it impossible to read in its entirety.

From a window overlooking Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, I assumed the role of a sniper, subverting its meaning through an act of exposure rather than aggression. Using a handmade blowpipe operated by my breath, I directed small cones of opaque acetate containing fragments of the letter towards passersby chosen intuitively. Much like when we decide to confide in someone, each choice arose from a feeling, without any certainty of being heard. The trajectory was unpredictable, and each fragment could be picked up, ignored, or lost. Once separated from their original narrative, these thoughts could acquire new meanings through the experiences of those who encountered them. A personal sentence could resonate with a stranger, creating the possibility of recognition without mutual acquaintance. The square thus became a space of potential encounter, traversed by attempts at communication whose outcomes remained uncertain.

The performance ended when the square emptied, leaving no one else with whom to communicate. The sniper, seemingly occupying a position of absolute control, was revealed to be the most vulnerable figure. I could choose, aim, and blow, but the moment a fragment left the blowpipe, I lost all control over its fate.