The Box of Life (1979)

11m 55s

16mm film (transferred to video)

 

This work was produced by Centro Video Arte of Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, led by Lola Bonora in 1979. The work was originally shot on 16mm film, directed by Gianluigi Poli, and then transferred to video.

Marangoni acts out a performance that deals with the primary concept of Life and Death. She deposes wax body parts on an electrified table then with a blowtorch she dissolves them. The body parts melt with some wax roses. The red wax evokes blood. Then, Marangoni wears a transparent mask as a minister who performs a ritual and is flanked by 'followers', who are also masked. Marangoni has stated: “Through some emblematic symbols I try to give…an image of the violence and the inevitable condition in which Mankind lies, that is, at the same time a message of Life”. (LL)