Vincenzo Fiore Marrese

Research Cluster Coincidental Creatures

Reimagining life’s points of intersection

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“Coincidence,” detail; Landschaftspark Rietzer Berg, Kloster Lehnin, Brandenburg, Germany; Kunst-Eremitage’s artist residency, Landschafts- und Kunstverein Rietzer Berg; photo by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese.

Research Context

This research looks at a two-way link. It is the link between art and living beings.

The research studies this link by focussing on the part of coincidence.

The research features two artworks, with additional pieces currently in development.

Call for Collaboration

The research is open to working together with people from various fields. The research fosters dialogues about coincidence, ethics, art and living beings.

If you wish to help with this ongoing research, please send a letter of purpose. In it, describe your interest and related experience.

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1. Introduction

This research looks at how artists’ personal paths link with broader global themes. I am aware that there could be diverse viewpoints on these themes.

For this reason, this research is open to diverse fields and people’s views.

The research revolves around many ideas which may hold diverse meanings for different people. I keep this in mind when working on these subjects.

Therefore, I see my story to be one of many possible viewpoints.

Sometimes, my attention could appear mainly on the creative side. It is because my field is art.

In this research, I aim to create each artistic step taking care of the natural habitat. My goal is to make sure these actions leave minimal impact.

Previously, I used materials that naturally go back to the earth. The piece slowly breaks down into the landscape.

A dialogue between art and nature can raise social awareness. It can also boost environmental knowledge.

2. Purpose of This Text

Regarding this text, it’s important to highlight a few key points.

  • This text is an overview of the research.

This text does not provide a comprehensive overview of these subjects.

  • The relationship between living beings and contemporary art and the theme of living being’s ethics and art practice is broad.

Among others, the following experts, who have made significant contributions to these fields but are not associated with this specific research, are noteworthy, listed in alphabetical order: David Akenson[1], Steven Baker[2], Beata Batorowicz[3], Luca Bochicchio[4], Ellie Coleman[5], Tsung-huei Huang[6], Rebecca Scollen[7], Ana Teixeira Pinto[8], Davide Tolfo[9], and Karin Andersen[10].

  • The topic of the “coincidence” is broad.

A part of this text looks at the idea of coincidence with ideas from experts. This part acts as a brief introduction to a complex theme.

I welcome respectful and helpful discussions on these topics.

I value dialogues on coincidence and the connection between ethics and art in living beings.

Please find my contacts through my contact page.

3. Into the Field of Living Beings

I study art at the art university, the Academy of Fine Arts.

Since the beginning, I have been interested in living beings. Living beings are the topic of the life sciences, as defined by the dictionary[11].

At that time, one of my favourite courses was a combination of art and science.

An Elephant Vertebra

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An Elephant Vertebra. This drawing is an early work from the beginning of my art studies. It symbolises the roots of this research; drawing by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese.

The course was about the human body[12]. I studied human bones and drew ideas from them.

My town also had a public collection of animal bones. I contacted the specialists who oversee the collection. They open the collection to me. They allow me to draw and study the specimens.

The specialists suggested a book about living beings with a backbone[13]. It provides a broader view. I noticed the point in common between some living beings.

I later broadened my art to include outdoor works.

I once planned an outdoor artwork in a rural area. I was in Germany. It was during an art program.

My idea was to find a way to make contact with living beings because of my interest in the life sciences.

4. The Altered Appearance of the Soil

In this rural area, there was a natural park. I needed to find a place in the park to create the outdoor artwork.

I chose a dip around a small pond.

A dip around a small pond.

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Landschaftspark Rietzer Berg, Kloster Lehnin, Brandenburg, Germany; Kunst-Eremitage’s artist residency, Landschafts- und Kunstverein Rietzer Berg; photo by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese.

I was slowly shaping the work. Then, one weekend, some guests arrived with a dog.

The dog started running around the art area and swimming in the small pond. Suddenly, the dog dug holes in the art area.

The dog’s digging changed the space.

A close-up of a small animal burrow with fresh dirt and visible tunnels.

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“Coincidence,” dog’s holes dug in the art area; Landschaftspark Rietzer Berg, Kloster Lehnin, Brandenburg, Germany; Kunst-Eremitage’s artist residency, Landschafts- und Kunstverein Rietzer Berg; photo by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese. Click to download HD Image (for press use only). Please credit V.F. Marrese. Contact us for other use or licensing.

Working outdoors, I stayed aware of possible changes.

However, this change was especially striking.

I let this change influence my work. I do not appropriate it.

I felt the creative development growing behind me. The dog’s action has made me feel even more like I am part of the community.

It was the community of living beings around me. I became more aware of how this community was growing.

I followed the change in the soil and added hundreds of coconut pellets. These pellets help new seeds grow and change shape when they get wet.

Expanded coco pellets, ready for planting seeds.

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“Coincidence,” coco coir pellets expanded after soaking in water; Landschaftspark Rietzer Berg, Kloster Lehnin, Brandenburg, Germany; Kunst-Eremitage’s artist residency, Landschafts- und Kunstverein Rietzer Berg; photo by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese. Click to download HD Image (for press use only). Please credit V.F. Marrese. Contact us for other use or licensing.

I used water from the pond where the dog was swimming to expand the pellets.

I praised the dog’s actions as a sign of new life coming from our actions.

The dog’s arrival met my intention to connect artistically with living beings.

It seems to me as a coincidence.

5. Coincidences

5.1 A Dictionary Definition of Coincidence

Following dictionary definitions[14][15][16], a coincidence is an event that involves two or more events. These events happen at the same time and seem to be connected.

5.2 Experts’ Thoughts on Coincidence

Experts propose different ways of defining coincidence.

For example, Lüthy and Palmerino suggest that to understand what words like chance, lucky, or coincidence mean, we need to know what type of explanation they’re trying to reject[17].

Griffiths and Tenenbaum propose a definition of coincidence supported by a mathematical framework[18]. They conclude that coincidences can uncover evidence that goes against what we expect and is relevant for making discoveries in science and day-to-day life[19].

5.3 Coincidence and Living Beings

One can indeed find multiple experts’ points of view[20].

However, the present research focuses on the relationship between coincidence and living beings.

6. Flying Over the Windowsill

I finished the artwork at the natural park. Then, I searched for new ways to link with living beings.

One morning, I was in my studio creating a new artwork for a theatre.

Suddenly, some birds flew over.

They left some branches on my windowsill.

Their action moved me to continue this natural gesture.

I wove the branches into my work, enriching my focus on diverging. According to the dictionary, to diverge means to move in different directions from the same starting point[21]. It happens when ideas, people, and influences take distinct paths.

A close-up detail of an artwork featuring raffia, branches, and red metallic enameled wire. The composition shows intertwined strands of raffia and branches, with the red wire adding a striking contrast.

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“Diverging Waves,” detail, 2024; assembled sculpture; born from an unexpected collaboration inspired by branches left by a bird on my windowsill; the artwork was activated in a theater’s black box, a human-sized camera obscura, accompanied by music from Planatia and words by Vincenzo Fiore Marrese; natural raffia, original bird x-ray, non-directional metallic enamelled wire, coloured polypropylene packing tape with acrylate adhesive, branches; 336×134 centimeters; 132.28×52.76 inches; Theater Expedition Metropolis (ExMe), Berlin, Germany; Die Höhle_festival; photo by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese. Click to download HD Image (for press use only). Please credit V.F. Marrese. Contact us for other use or licensing.

In this work, actions branch out like branches.

The work features an original X-ray image of a bird. I found it and repurposed it.

A close-up detail of an artwork featuring a framed x-ray of a bird, surrounded by raffia and red polypropylene packing tape.
 The tape is used to secure the x-ray to the frame and creates a visually interesting contrast with the organic materials.

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“Diverging Waves,” detail, 2024; assembled sculpture; born from an unexpected collaboration inspired by branches left by a bird on my windowsill; the artwork was activated in a theater’s black box, a human-sized camera obscura, accompanied by music from Planatia and words by Vincenzo Fiore Marrese; natural raffia, original bird x-ray, non-directional metallic enamelled wire, coloured polypropylene packing tape with acrylate adhesive, branches; 336×134 centimeters; 132.28×52.76 inches; Theater Expedition Metropolis (ExMe), Berlin, Germany; Die Höhle_festival; photo by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese. Click to download HD Image (for press use only). Please credit V.F. Marrese. Contact us for other use or licensing.

The work also includes a natural fiber.

A close-up detail of a raffia artwork hanging in a room with white walls,
							 a wooden door, a black chalkboard, and a white stove. The raffia is arranged in a loose, flowing manner, creating a sense of movement and texture.

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“Diverging Waves,” detail, 2024; assembled sculpture; born from an unexpected collaboration inspired by branches left by a bird on my windowsill; the artwork was activated in a theater’s black box, a human-sized camera obscura, accompanied by music from Planatia and words by Vincenzo Fiore Marrese; natural raffia, original bird x-ray, non-directional metallic enamelled wire, coloured polypropylene packing tape with acrylate adhesive, branches; 336×134 centimeters; 132.28×52.76 inches; Theater Expedition Metropolis (ExMe), Berlin, Germany; Die Höhle_festival; photo by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese. Click to download HD Image (for press use only). Please credit V.F. Marrese. Contact us for other use or licensing.

Indeed, this fiber created a new link with live beings. It happened during another art program.

This time, the link was with ants.

7. Ants wake up at seven in the morning

I spent several days in a large field in a rural area.

I worked on an artwork early in the morning.

I was creating a net. The net was around a discovered concrete block.

One day, I realised something was happening around seven o’clock.

The ants came. They walked across the net, up and down. They started to do it every morning around the same time.

A black ant climbing on a twisted, dry plant stem with a blurred background.

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By seven o’clock, the ants began their journey across the raffia net I meticulously created. They moved with curiosity, treating the strings as their own intricate pathways; contrada la Strada, Butera, Caltanissetta, Italy; Terraformation art residency, curated by Mayer Pavillion, with the support of Farm Cultural Park; photo by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese. Click to download HD Image (for press use only). Please credit V.F. Marrese. Contact us for other use or licensing.

8. Parallel Lines of Research

From my viewpoint, this event does not involve coincidence.

The idea of coincidence is a crucial point in my research.

However, this event still runs parallel to the research.

The interplay between living beings appears as a two-way exchange.

In previous works, I followed the actions of dogs and birds. In this work, the ants followed my action.

It seems these events work like a dialogue.

9. Exchanges of Coincidence

These events emphasize a key research issue.

It is the interplay between art and living beings.

Events like the coincidences appear to boost the interplay. Indeed, these events link art and living beings.

Finally, this research invites us to look at the ways living beings connect to each other.

Through art and research, we can enhance creatures’ exchanges of coincidence.

Notes

  1. Coleman, E.; Scollen, R.; Batorowicz, B.; Akenson, D. Artistic Freedom or Animal Cruelty? Contemporary Visual Art Practice That Involves Live and Deceased Animals. Animals 2021, 11, 812. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030812 back to the text
  2. Steve Baker, The Postmodern Animal (London: Reaktion Books, 2000). back to the text
  3. Coleman, E.; Scollen, R.; Batorowicz, B.; Akenson, D. Artistic Freedom or Animal Cruelty? Contemporary Visual Art Practice That Involves Live and Deceased Animals. Animals 2021, 11, 812. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030812 back to the text
  4. Karin Andersen and Luca Bochicchio, “The Presence of Animals in Contemporary Art as a Sign of Cultural Change,” Forma: Revista d’Humanitats 6 (December 2012): 12-23. back to the text
  5. Coleman, E.; Scollen, R.; Batorowicz, B.; Akenson, D. Artistic Freedom or Animal Cruelty? Contemporary Visual Art Practice That Involves Live and Deceased Animals. Animals 2021, 11, 812. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030812 back to the text
  6. Tsung-huei Huang, “On the Use of Animals in Contemporary Art: Damien Hirst’s ‘Abject Art’ as a Point of Departure,” Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies 41, no. 1 (March 2015): 87-118, https://doi.org/10.6240/concentric.lit.2015.41.1.05. back to the text
  7. Coleman, E.; Scollen, R.; Batorowicz, B.; Akenson, D. Artistic Freedom or Animal Cruelty? Contemporary Visual Art Practice That Involves Live and Deceased Animals. Animals 2021, 11, 812. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030812 back to the text
  8. Ana Teixeira Pinto, “The Post-Human Animal: What’s Behind the Proliferation of Animals in Recent Artworks?” Frieze d/e, no. 19 (May 2015), https://www.frieze.com/article/post-human-animal, accessed October 28, 2024. back to the text
  9. Davide Tolfo, “Exploring the Role of Non-Human Animals in Contemporary Art: As Objects, Matter, and Collaborators,” in Building Common Ground: Ecological Art Practices and Human-Nonhuman Knowledges, ed. Emiliano Guaraldo, The Future Contemporary 2 (Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2023), 5, https://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-756-2/002. back to the text
  10. Karin Andersen and Luca Bochicchio, “The Presence of Animals in Contemporary Art as a Sign of Cultural Change,” Forma: Revista d’Humanitats 6 (December 2012): 12-23. back to the text
  11. Cambridge University Press, “Life Science,” Cambridge Dictionary, accessed October 19, 2024, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/life-science. back to the text
  12. The course was called “Anatomia Artistica,”which could be translated as “Artistic Anatomy,” “Figure Drawing,” “Anatomy for Artists,” or “Human Anatomy for Artists.” back to the text
  13. Milton Hildebrand, Analysis of Vertebrate Structure (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1974). back to the text
  14. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “coincidence,” accessed October 23, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coincidence. back to the text
  15. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “occurrence,” accessed October 24, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occurrence. back to the text
  16. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “event,” accessed October 24, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/event. back to the text
  17. Christoph H. Lüthy and Carla Rita Palmerino, “Conceptual and Historical Reflections on Chance (and Related Concepts),” in The Challenge of Chance: A Multidisciplinary Approach from Science and the Humanities, eds. Klaas Landsman and Ellen van Wolde (Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2016), 42. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26300-7 back to the text
  18. Thomas L. Griffiths and Joshua B. Tenenbaum, “From Mere Coincidences to Meaningful Discoveries,” Cognition 103, no. 2 (2007): 180-226, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2006.03.004 back to the text
  19. Ibidem, 220. back to the text
  20. For another expert perspective on the nature of coincidence, see Michiel van Elk, Karl Friston, and Harold Bekkering, “The Experience of Coincidence: An Integrated Psychological and Neurocognitive Perspective,” in The Challenge of Chance: A Multidisciplinary Approach from Science and the Humanities, eds. Klaas Landsman and Ellen van Wolde (Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2016), 171-186. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26300-7. back to the text
  21. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “diverge,” accessed October 27, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diverge. back to the text