Metamorphoses by Merlino Mayo at LEA – Full Sim Project – 1st turn – 2011-2012 Show Open till 15 March 2012.
First of all I want to thank LEA (Linden Endowment for the Arts) and The LEA committee (Bryn Oh, Dancoyote Antonelli, Dekka Raymaker, JayJay Zifanwe, L1 Loire, Sasun Steinbeck, Solo Mornington, Werner Kurosawa, PatriciaAnne Daviau -advisor-) who trusted me and other artists (Artistide Despres, Charlotte Bartlett, comet Morigi, Freewee Ling, Glyph Graves, Harter Fall, Merlino Mayo, Mikati Slade, Misprint Thursday, Oberon Onmura, RAG Randt, Secret Rage, Selavy Oh, Sowa Mai, Ux Hax, Zachh Cale) for the first round LEA Land Grants to give me the opportunity to use a big space as a full sim to express my art.
Taking inspiration from the 1st book and a few of other episodes of the “Metamorphoses”, word that from greek means “change of shape”, written in latin by Publius Ovidius, this new project aims to build a path of multi levels within an allegorical vision related to the current age of crisis and transformation of human beings and our society.
The way to see the whole work would formally very different but conceptually similar to the fresco dedicated to the “Fall of the Giants” by Giulio Romano in the Palazzo Te in Mantua (Mantova), where the representation becomes a metaphor of the times lived and precarious power and human ambitions; So going on other examples are possible like the trasformations of Aracne, Daphne, Icarus, Heliades sisters, Medusa, ect. The outer and inner change of form and substance of living beings and their natural relationships into something different, new and unexpected, from the creative process naturally with technology through the lens of the symbolism of Myth and the squared glass of Science.
It is very interesting to see the origin of name Palazzo Te: “The famous villa, designed for parties, receptions and “idleness” of the Duke of Mantua, was built on an island in direct contiguity with the city center, known since the Middle Ages Tejeto, or Te. The hypothesis most likely derive from the term ’tilietum’ (place of linden trees) or from the Celtic ‘tezza’ linked with Latin ‘atteggia’ in english ‘attitude’, both meaning ‘hut’.” *from
Obviously the project is not complete about the whole huge Ovid’s work, and in start I’ve done just some main episodes, but my intention is to work on it in future, it will take time for sure. Stay tuned.
Merlino Mayo
Book I: Cosmogony, Ages of Man, Gigantes, Daphne;
0 Metamorphoses – Start point “Palazzo Te, Mantova”
http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA27/128/151/23
1 Metamorphoses – I – Cosmogony – The Creation of Universe
http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA27/130/66/4042
2 Metamorphoses – II – Cosmogony The Elements – EL MENTUM (2010)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA27/128/137/3893
3 Metamorphoses – III – Cosmogony – The Creation of Sea and Sky
http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA27/216/134/3565
4 Metamorphoses – IV – Ages of Man – The Golden Age of Man
http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA27/138/149/3215
5 Metamorphoses – V – Raise of Giants
http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA27/149/204/2803
6 Metamorphoses – VI – Fall of Giants
http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA27/126/129/1078
7 Metamorphoses – VII – Daphne
http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA27/128/50/1534
Some references:
LEA lindenarts.blogspot.com, LEA www.lea-sl.org, Metamorphoses Illustrations First Book, Latin Original Texts, Book I in Latin, english text, virtual tour into the Room of the Giants.
Merlino Mayo 