This text aims to contextualise the video work Dancing Landscapes, Volcanic Breath and a broader artistic research project focusing on the supervolcano in Southern Italy known as the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei). Characterized by an ongoing bradyseismic crisis, this volcanic caldera, which is home to over half a million people, experiences slow ground uplift and subsidence accompanied by seismic activity. Through dialogue with residents of Pozzuoli and Naples, as well as volcanology scientists, this work aims to deepen the understanding of what it means to live intimately with the challenges posed by bradyseism. Movement becomes a key investigative tool in study of intimacy with land and geological phenomenon. Moving camera gazes at caldera’s notable craters - Lake Averno-believed by the Romans to be the entrance to the Underworld (Hades), active vulcano Solfatara, naturalistic oasis of Astroni, and many others. Movement becomes central also in looking at how human and non-human bodies move on top of the volcano. The area is rich in archaeological remains and legends, such as the mythological war between the Olympian gods and the Titans. They serve as inspirations in conceptual and aesthetic choices made in the film.
Simona Zemaityte (Wed,) studied this question.