Series 2022 - ongoing
Print on thermal paper, order bar, glass.
Winner project of SAC gallery prize, Combat prize 2022.
A row of thermal paper prints descend to the floor, supported by an aluminium order bar. Each work of the series shows a sequence of images generated by the artist through AI, in an attempt to reconstruct the scenes of some dream she or someone else had. The heat print is a metaphor for the evanescence of memories, which tend to slowly fade as time passes.
After experiencing the dream, Gurgone transcribes every single detail she is able to recall to then begin an obsessive iconographic investigation. Like a pioneer, the artist ventures out on virtual explorations, looking for small clues and scenarios, capturing them in the hope that they will somehow return a vision of her dream that is as faithful as possible.
L.
21/11/2022
The dream describes the departure and return from a trip.
The person remembers only the moment of return and the feelings felt just before departure. The outward journey was lost.
I have been booking this vacation by myself for a long time, but now that I have to leave, I am actually over it. I feel that I have to take care of things here at home and the idea of changing context is uncomfortable for me. Despite my lack of conviction I decide to go so as not to lose the money spent, hoping it will be worth it.
-
By the time I return, I am late to go to the airport and have one piece of luggage to check in, afraid I will miss my plane. I remember that my vacation spot was in the middle of nowhere, almost deserted, yet at that moment I find myself surrounded by a crowd of people on the street. Among those people, I look for someone who can give me a ride and help me get to the airport. In the meantime, I decide to check in online from my phone spending a lot of money, maybe 200 euros, to add an additional luggage in the hold.
I see a family with many suitcases loading a car to leave, and I deduce that they are going to the airport as well. The two small children are crying nonstop while the parents are arguing with each other, not listening to each other or to their children. In asking them for help, I realize that our conversation is not happening on a verbal level, we are talking with our minds.
Suddenly silence falls in the chaos of that street. All those people continue to be there without making any noise, thus becoming the backdrop to the scene of us getting ready and getting into the car. We set off and the scenery becomes desert again, reminding me of the landscapes of Almería, Spain. The road we travel is endless, full of hairpin bends, and it is there that I realize we will never make it in time: we left at 5:45 p.m. and the flight would take off at 6:15 p.m. For a moment though, I feel peace in seeing that desert. By now it is late, and the melancholy I feel is not from missing the flight but from the knowledge that I will have to spend a few less hours with the people I love who are at the destination.
Process to shape the imaginary n°1, 2023.
Print on thermal paper, order bar, aluminum.
100x164x35 cm.
A.
20/11/2022
The person narrating states that, once awake, the first thing stuck in their mind is a meaningless word, "Jerico." The protagonists of the dream have nicknames assigned by the same person.
I go with Angelo Davide, Alessandro Ingrosso, Lorenzo from the scouts, and Raksha (who has a curly mustache and smokes drummini that day) to a dive bar that sells sushi. Davide orders something while smoking and the others order as well. We binge and laugh breathlessly at a theory with which I have become somewhat fixated, namely that Alessandro Ingrosso is endowed with his own "light" and that nature allows him of the incredible. He continues to laugh but I take it seriously, especially since I have witnessed certain events, such as, for example, the time when, falling from a very high wall, instead of breaking something he just sprained his ankle. Finished eating, we get up to leave. Other people are in the place, there is various commotion. I focus on a group of boys waiting for a free table, they will be about fifteen years old. One girl catches my attention and I spontaneously tell her that not now but maybe in the future she will improve herself. Our table fills up with her friends and as I leave the place whales are being killed in a harbor by several workers dressed in orange vests. In front of me, hallucinatingly large pups and adults are being dissected. their sperm are being taken by strange machinery and packed up to be shipped who knows where.
It is evening and among the various people I again focus on a girl who has been "magnetized" by a boy: they break away from their group and begin to trespass among everyone. At that point all the people disappear, he detaches from her, and they are revealed in their original form: they are abominations who intend to merge with other people. The scene returns to the sushi place. The boy approaches the entrance of the dive bar and liquefies the faces of those he meets, while with his tongue he hunts down abominations similar to himself, of small stature.Meanwhile, the abominable couple's friends are finishing eating; they seem to know the chef well and comment with him on the various courses: a large quantity of noodles in broth and some sashimi. At the table next to them is a couple: he, a small bald black man with a short mustache; she, a woman in not excessive but noticeable obesity, with several breast and left eye amputations, as well as several scars. They discuss their problem in having children, and during the conversation the man speculates about the possibility of having a baby girl with an unhealthy body. This possibility leads both of them to despair, which is dampened by the ironic idea that they have, by contrast, many boys playing soccer.
I continue to wander around the club. A boy enters only in passing, the owner sees him but does not immediately chase him away, despite the fact that the kitchen is closed in the meantime; rather, he begins to insult him, threatening to make him eat in the "disposal" group, i.e., the people in charge of eating the leftovers of the premises. Wielding a knife, he adds that his punishment will be a putrid tub to bathe in. The boy, however, just wants to walk around. I leave and see an old church, largely buried. The new town has built on the old and is made up of large pedestrian streets; I didn't notice any cars except in the harbor area. All that peeks out of that church is the roof on which various statues have been placed, similar to those in Pompeii. Casts of fleeing men, with the physiognomy of faces and robes: it was not a cataclysm that generated these figures but memory. I notice that a journalist is interviewing an artist who has added one of his statues among the others, and this leads me to appreciate that atmosphere less. At one point I remember falling into a deep ravine, only to reappear inside a moving streetcar in what appears to be Milan. In the scene I sat on the only empty seat, which I am soon forced to leave to a rich old woman, scolded by my seat neighbor.
Not taking this fact well in my heart, I head for a reserved area. The streetcar, as I went along, between each row seat, changed in quality. Arriving at the reserved area, a woman forbids me to pass, showing me a ban sanctioned by a red banner. I ignored her and the wagon inside looked like a 19th-century palace with small crystal lamps and whatnot. Well-to-do women used to stand there in satin dresses, tight and shiny, hair coiffed: these are women who have earned this prestige, and certainly not because of beauty. A bouncer tries to block me and I pretend to be a foreigner. I wave a finger at her to give me one more second to look, proffering my lip as if to say, "Come on, what's it going to cost you." Other girls try to tackle me but I protest:
“One second please, it’s beautiful”.
They let me sit down. I enjoy the view and the streetcar going through the streets of the new city. A lady asks me if I like the carriage and giggling with her friends she says she bought it. I don't know how but at some point we find ourselves in a running challenge with another streetcar. On our side it is night and on our opponents' side it is daylight; both of us are headed to Rome.
In the last part I am in a square having a drink in front of a table with David and Raksha. For a second a Supernova (or similar) appears in the night sky: it is huge in size, beautiful. Amazed, I try to take a picture but the explosion has already disappeared. In the city stands a magnificent tower decorated with bas-reliefs depicting giant monsters that give the idea of supporting the weight of the structure. Armed civilians are intent on marching, following some law that authorizes them to carry weapons around only when unloaded, employable only as fashion accessories. They look like Taliban. One of them turns and points his rifle at me mockingly, pretending to have recoil, but I remain impassive.
The dream ends with the background illuminated by various bombings and a nurse retrieving injured people. An Indian child in an explosion has lost his legs and left arm and on has a label the same as the price tag, containing a number, probably attached to him by the nurse, indicating the severity of his situation. Another nurse waits in the back of the ambulance along with the body of another child or what is left of it. His number is less, probably because the chances of his survival are slim. Surprising was when, the first child, surreptitiously exchanged their numbers, giving him a chance but putting his own survival at risk.
Process to Shape the Imaginary n°2, 2023.
Order bar, print on thermal paper, glass.
140x164x35 cm.
Process to Shape the Imaginary n°3, 2023.
Order bar, print on thermal paper.
25,5x34 cm.
C.
28/11/2022
The dream is a flash of a few minutes abruptly interrupted by a noise from the street.
Sitting at the kitchen table, I notice that my pantry door opens by itself. Awkwardly ten Haribo gummy bears descend to the stovetop, beginning a psychedelic tribal dance until I stand up and...
E.
08/01/2024
The dream is incomplete because, despite his efforts, the person does not remember what he purchased at the end of the flash.
I am walking in the center of Rome when I decide to stop in front of an organic pharmacy. I go in, pick up a soap and, distracted, continue on my way completely forgetting that I have it in my hand. By now some distance from the pharmacy, I notice the soap and decide to turn back, crossing the subway tracks as if I were playing Subway Surfer.
In a moment of distraction, I almost get run over by a train, but instead of the classic "Game Over" sign, a sheet appears announcing that I have €68,000 available to spend, spread over three installments, at a bio pharmacy to cure my nails.
Excited, I rush to the pharmacy accompanied by my sister and father who suddenly appear on the scene. After some calculation, we decide to spend €1,500 at a time. I enter the pharmacy and as I prepare to choose products, I am distracted by looking at a row of exercise bikes, unusual items for a pharmacy but which were displayed there along with the drugs.
Process to Shape the Imaginary n° 4, 2024.
Order bar, print on thermal paper.
50x74 cm.
M.
13/03/2023
The protagonist of the dream states that she woke up in a state of confusion.
It is evening and I am at home. An elderly gentleman rings the door, left alone after the death of his master. Not understanding why he was giving him to me, the question arises as to whether to take him in, consi-dering that I already own a white cat disinclined to welcome strangers into the house. All the same, the dog immediately approaches me confidently, as I see the man turn away with his back to me after walking through the door. At that very moment, the sun suddenly appears in the sky.
Process to Shape the Imaginary n° 5, 2024.
Order bar, print on thermal paper.
25,5x38 cm.
B.
23\02\2024
The person describes a constant and recurring detail in different dreams.
I often dream of gigantic and elaborate bathrooms, dwellings in which every room is a livable bathroom. In these visions, the tiles stretch endlessly, creating labyrinths from which I struggle to find an exit. Last night, I found myself in several bathrooms, each equipped with a pillow wrapped around the toilet and sink. The proximity of the toilets made it possible to lie comfortably, creating a surprisingly pleasant and relaxing atmosphere.
Process to Shape the Imaginary n° 6, 2024.
Order bar, print on thermal paper, plastic.
25,5x60 cm.
G.
08/03/2024
The details of the dream are mostly blurred and confused. The protagonist does not remember much of the context, it was dark outside but the scene takes place inside a house.
I was sitting at a desk or something, feeling strangely calm despite feeling a widespread agitation in the outside world, as if something was about to happen. I felt an uncomfortable throbbing in my lower lip similar to an inflammation and this prompted me to get up to go to the bathroom.
The journey to the bathroom turned out to be a real ordeal, my lower lip was swelling more and more, becoming so heavy that I had to hold it with my hands. The inside had turned black and had a huge sore in the middle. When I mirrored myself, small holes began to appear on my face, while my vision gradually became blurred. I felt I was frightened but accepted it as I was aware of what was happening.
I am pretty sure I walked to a chair or a sofa until I felt my body dissolving. I knew I was dying, but I let it happen because I felt at peace, like I knew everything was normal. My vision had faded but I could still see, although everything appeared black.
The fear vanished and I woke up.
Process to shape the imaginary n° 7, 2024.
Order bar, print on thermal paper, inox.
70 x 165 x 50 cm.
