I first started to shoot the serie "Unvulnerable Grounds" years ago. My goal was not only to recreate an invented-populated landscape but to capture a moment in which a story was written/told. The story of a life that only exist within the frame of the picture (an in my mind that is continuously in search for a new chapter in this fabricated landscape-[s]). An unvulnerable life, an unvulnerable ground.
This part of the serie, subtitled "Walking on History" wants to be a analysis/experimentation with a (litterally) historic ground. We walk in history, everyday: monuments, streets, trees. Time passes, and, as we walk, the past is right a second behind us. The ground we set our feet on is a past fabrication. If our brain is in the present (most of the time!) well, our feet are on a different plan! "Walking on History" tries to challenge or, better, create a parallel world where the only present is the moment we instantly look at the picture. The set for this framed moment of invented landscape is as litteral as it can be: a miniature figure placed on top of different (original) drawings dated from 1837 to1886.

For more photos of the "Unvulnerable Grounds / Walking on History" on Flickr just click HERE
Photos by lilypenelope

The rose as a starting point for an architectural drawing. Lines, form, weaving. An ongoing experiment.

Rose set on Flickr

There I was! South of France. I could see the vineyards. I could feel the vineyards. There I was. In the Languedoc region. I could also sense the presence of the Greeks, of the Phoenicians and the Romans who started their settlements there. But I could also grasp a sense of history and wars remembering the Alamanni, the Visigoths, the Vandals, and the Saracens who invaded the area. My sense of place got deeper. My imagination started to wander. But then it just came to me. An hyperreal moment. I was in Venice, California! Photo by lilypenelope

Colors of nature. Natural Colors. Seasons. Temporary visual state-[s].
Photo by lilypenelope

Experimenting with colors, layers, architecture and transparency. Ongoing work. Photo by lilypenelope.

A modern version of the three wise monkeys? "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". On an italian city's wall. Photo by lilypenelope

This is, no doubt, one of the best art/architecture installation I've seen at the Biennale this year. To be honest I have to admit that it is one of the best installation I've ever seen...period! This fantastic work was created by the argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno with the title "Galaxies Forming along Filaments, like Droplets along the Strand of a Spider's Web".
This is what I want from art/architecture. The ability to be part of it. The chance to be part of its meaning. To be one additional detail that can add value to it. Art that is speaking to us. And we, consciously or not, interact with it. With our feeling, with our imagination, with our secret thought!
There was a moment, inside the exhibition space that a strong feeling of being catapultedd inside a virtual space crossed my mind. It felt as if those lines where just in your imagination. Yet, the same feeling, crossed my mind even when I downloaded the images. Looking at them on my pc, felt like a montage, reality vs. virtual. Inserting people in a virtual space to give depth to it. To make it alive. But, in fact, we, the visitors, made this possible. We made it alive. We were inhabiting art. Art gave us a temporary shelter! Photos by lilypenelope

Two cities. Two floating cities. One linear. One in the form of a fish. Is one becoming the shadow of the other? Or are they both in fact one entity? Photo by lilypenelope

This is the first post on the very interesting art I was able to see at the Venice Biennale. It's actually more about the art I was able to feel that I will talk about.What is art in the end? Just a mere representation hanging on a wall? Or a piece that, no matter where it's hanging, triggers, inside of us, a chain of reactions/feelings/memories and so forth.

These pieces are among several art creations I certainly enjoyed "reading". The Morocco's contribution for this year Art Biennale "Making Worlds".

Work by artist Fathiya Tahiri:

Work by artist Mahi Binebine:

A very important factor in any exhibition is the location. In this case, being able to enjoy this fantastic art in a church - Santa Maria della Pietà - added one more ingredient to the entire experience.

Maybe the most typical photograph taken in Venice by... everybody!! I'm actually not only surprised that I took this picture but that, ultimately, looking at it from a distance, I'm surprised that I can't see the line. The line that divides reality from a postcard. Where has the "real" Venice gone? To Vegas? Photo by lilypenelope

A monument. A billboard. History. Of art, of architecture, of social trends. Past and present. The present hiding temporarily the past. Yet, tomorrow, even this present/presence will be history.
Photo by lilypenelope

I've honestly never assisted to such a fast chromatic change. To such a combination of forms and details. Lines. Pores. The smell of it and of the surrounding environment. Nature never stops to amaze me! Photo by lilypenelope

From the whole into pieces. From yellow to Blue. Under the trees.
Photo by lilypenelope

The city. A theater. The Greeks called it "theatron" (θέατρον) "a place for seeing". A city, a place of representation. Actors and Spectators. A performance: Passion and Imagination. Projection. Perception. And, from above, the city is there. And we watch. But, if yesterday we were the actors, now it's her turn. She is our Spectacle. Photo by lilypenelope

Colors. Black and White. Movement(s). Coordination. Juxtaposition of images.
The Animal and The Images.
Photo by lilypenelope

The Praying Mantis. Staring at me. Staring at you. Photo by lilypenelope

Resting. In the city. Admiring. The city. A new understanding.
Photo by lilypenelope

Walls. History. Shadows. Memory. My mind is travelling. In Space and Time.
Photo by lilypenelope

The castles. Bellinzona. Shaking the night! Photo by lilypenelope

Books. Writing and reading. Memory. Feelings. Senses. Smells. I have the habit to smell books before I buy them. I love their smell. My mind starts then wondering around, imagining an old writer, with ink and plume, sitting in a room, facing a lake, getting inspirations for a story. The smell of paper in her/his room. A cup of coffee on the side. a small bite to eat. Fog outside. Inside a soft music in the background. A, on top of everything, the smell of fresh ink, ready to create a geography of words on a blank paper.
There is so much about a book, that goes beyond its content and its cover. There is the story behind the story. And a subjectivized story...behind these juxtaposed multitude of other stories!
Photo by lilypenelope

Jazz music. On the wall. In the air. An original signed photograph. A concert ticket from the 50's. And my father proud to tell me "It was my first concert: Lionel Hampton was amazing".
Photo by lilypenelope

The Silent city. A sacred silent place. Many different {hi}-stories. They all tell you fragments of lives. Of life. A silent narration. Photo by lilypenelope