Aviva Silverman's Immersive Installation at Spazio Veda Explores Spirituality and Surveillance

American artist and activist Aviva Silverman (b. 1986, New York) presents her installation "A House Can't Flood That Never Gets Built" at Spazio Veda in Florence. The work addresses themes of religion, capitalism, gender nonconformity, and spiritual-political surveillance technologies. The installation is set in a completely neutral environment to focus attention solely on the artwork. At opposite sides of the space, two dog totems symbolize psychopomps—identical in body structure but wearing different tribal masks. They emit sounds that grow from zero intensity, creating vibrations that penetrate the body and merge sound with the viewer's physical experience. From above, viewers feel like giants; seated, they feel miniaturized and drawn into the piece. The sounds teleport the viewer inside the work, evoking a portal between life and non-life. Extinguished railway networks suggest the end or pause of soul passages, showing paths taken by others left suspended. A carpet with patches of colored fabric depicts a cross-section of existence: tracks, extinguished gears, cut ignition wires. The exhibition was held in 2022.