Tomislav Marcijus
Real or artificial?
The photographs illustrating this report, by Tomislav Marcijus (Osijek, Croatia, 1990), are produced using artificial intelligence. But the amazing thing is that these same images could also have been real, because during the Italian Renaissance theatres were flooded so that naval battles could be held in the stalls.
Tomislav Marcijus liked to travel to Budapest frequently, to photograph the interior of the churches there. Until one day, in a series of deserted Art Deco-style theatres and cinemas, he started adding in swimming pools. “I drew my inspiration from the last Water Polo World Championship, which Croatia won. I was interested in finding out how people would react if water polo or other water sports were played in spaces like these”. A little later he also started visualising churches as the baths or spas of our age.
But his greatest surprise came when he discovered that four centuries ago, the im- ages he was creating artificially had actually occurred.
Let us go back to the city of Parma, in the year 1629. In the Teatro Farnese, all the preparations are in place for the marriage of Margherita de’Medici, the daughter of the duke of Tuscany, and Odoardo I Farnese, fifth duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro. An allegorical, mythological spectacle called Mercury and Mars has been devised for this day.
To chords of music [...]
--------
Read this article in full in IN PALMA 79. And if you like, subscribe to IN PALMA for 1 year and get the next 4 issues of the magazine delivered to your home.
