Alessandro Fonte's 'L'assedio' Explores Siege as Metaphor at Srisa Project Space

Alessandro Fonte (born 1984, Polistena) presents 'L'assedio' (The Siege), a solo exhibition curated by Alessandra Franetovich at Srisa Project Space in Florence. The show uses the concept of siege as a metaphor for societal and psychological pressures. Fonte employs drawing, video, sculpture, and sound installation to examine humanity's flawed attempts at control. The exhibition opens with a 2016 drawing of a double staircase leading to a throne-like chair on a bridge, symbolizing a state between possibility and deprivation. The video 'Unisono' (2013) shows a violinist-performer trying to synchronize the sound of two industrial fans, which distort and erase memory. The sound installation 'Radio Cantiere' (2018) fragments Italian pop songs, creating a new narrative only comprehensible to attentive listeners. 'La giostra dell’avvicinamento (rituale per 8 persone e 8 rapaci imbalsamati)' (2015), made with Shawnette Poe, features eight performers circling eight taxidermied raptors around a circular altar, passing an ice egg until it melts, exploring birth and time. 'Humming' (2018) depicts two wasps mating, with sounds from everyday objects and internet sources blurring reality and perception. The sculpture '2 x 2' (2018) is a miniature bedroom as a fortress of intimacy and solitude. The final video 'Condizioni di rottura' (2018) uses avalanche footage from films and cartoons to highlight tension between fiction and reality.