Hominem te memento
2023–2011. HD-video with audio, 7 min.
An actor, an artist and an assistant are filming in the ancient park of Villa Celimontana in Rome, with the Roman Baths of Caracalla and the modernist construction Gazometro, which features among other things in Pasolini's Accattone, in the panoramic background. While filming is in progress, they are constantly interrupted by a state reception taking place nearby.
In ancient Rome, the emperor's triumphal parades with animals, dancers and chained prisoners passed Circus Maximus, Palatine Hill, Forum, to Capitol Hill. The emperor, draped in gold and ivory, rode in a chariot with a slave holding a crown above his head, whispering continuously "Respice post te – hominem te memento." At zenith, the emperor was cautioned: "Look behind you, remember you are only a human."
In spring 2011, I spent a semester in Rome with my daughter. During the stay, I attempted to (re)orient myself in Italian politics, society, and history. Simultaneously, the world witnessed dramatic events: NATO's bombing of Libya, massive refugee flows to Lampedusa, the liquidation of Bin Laden, the Arab Spring with upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East, legal proceedings against Berlusconi, a referendum on the privatization of water resources and nuclear power plants in Italy.
Against this backdrop, "Hominem te memento" emerged as an existential and dystopian image. An old friend, Riccardo de Torrebruna, an Italian actor, author, and theater director, stepped in. I found the right location, with multiple temporal layers in the imagery. On the day of filming, we were in the ancient park of Villa Celimontana. Technical equipment was rented, my friend, Aude Fourel, a French artist, managed the sound boom, while eleven-year-old Alva also contributed. All was well, except for the state reception taking place nearby on Via dei Fori Imperiali, with endless noise from sirens, helicopters, and more. It took time to realize that the recordings, which I thought were total failures, were, in fact, golden, and that everything that disturbed, even Riccardo moving in and out of the role of emperor and slave in heartfelt frustration, only intensified the underlying idea of the work.