ARTE FIERA OBSERVATORY

Alex Cecchetti, an Italian artist, poet, and performer living in Paris, has developed an artistic practice that is hard to classify – he calls it “art of avoidance.” Invisible choreography, highly imaginative tales, objects that create experiences for and with viewers: these are his forms and methods. He has given performances in museums throughout Europe, including the Centre Pompidou and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, MAXXI in Rome, Serralves in Porto, and the Serpentine Galleries in London. At the Serpentine Galleries, he is currently participating in the PLANTSEX General Ecology project with his Belladonna performance. In May, he will be in Castello di Rivoli for an exhibit and a guided tour in and around the Cerruti collection.
He participated in the 'Love Bar' project (part of Oplà. Performing activities) for Arte Fiera 2019.

When I go out to collect plants and herbs, I almost always go into the woods. It would be easier to walk along paths at the edge of fields or under poles with electrical cables, where the uncultivated ground is full of Daucus Carota, Lamiaceae, Stellaria Media, and Prunella. It would be smarter, but I like surprises. I like finding what I’m not looking for. But sometimes the real treasures among the weeds are found in the city: between two broken bricks in a wall, forgotten in a flowerbed, in a neglected flowerpot, at the corners of alleys, wrapped around the feet of a statue. Look for them if you walk around Bologna! They’re there, beautiful, more historical than a painting, more courageous than an artist, more seductive than the handsomest man or most beautiful woman. They attract golden bees, iridescent butterflies, emerald-green beetles, and then – just like that – they’re gone. You won’t find anything like that in a museum!

ACHILLEA

Sono una pianta
E hai ragione
Non so scrivere
Ma so sedurre
E ora che è innamorato perdutamente di me
Alex Cecchetti
Ti dirà chi sono 

Guarisco le ferite della carne e del cuore
perché obbedisco alle regole costanti
E cresco nel rapporto aureo
ed è questo che insegno ad ogni cellula della tua pelle
Ero con Achille
Sui campi di battaglia dove ora fiorisco
la sua immortalità non era altro che un'alleanza
Io ho guarito le sue ferite
Lui mi ha seminato

Quando hai le tue cose e tutto quello che vuoi è restare a casa
Guardare film, mangiare torte
E le tue amiche invece dicono
Via, metti un Tampax e vieni in piscina
Chi altro può aiutarti?
Se posso guarire ferite a un soldato
perché non potrei alleviare un amazzone?

Vivo nel quartiere
Quindi vieni a cercarmi
Incontrare una pianta è trovare un poeta