Noises from above

This project started from the interest of the artists around the village of San Damiano, near Piacenza, the birthplace of Simone Bertuzzi and Simone Trabucchi. This area hosts both a NATO military base and a sanctuary dedicated to an apparition of the Virgin Mary during the early 1960s: this research was born from an attention focused both on the sound produced by the warplanes' exercises and the nature of the military space, and on the collective religious imagination, in search of a possible dialogue and common points, in the context of a small village alongside the Po Valley.

The first version of the project took the form of a documentary based on several interviews and filming of the surrounding landscape: at this stage just two trailers were produced, based on two interviews, and a parallel version was conceived as a live media performance composed of two video projections and a live soundtrack. In 2007, after a first stop decided by the artists themselves, the project was rethought as an installation on two screens, where they could have worked with loops and small variations, starting from shorter narrative models. This also included two structures for the vision of the films and an ambient soundtrack. In addition, during the research, the artists had the opportunity to confront themselves with the artist William Xerra - who was born in Piacenza too - who in 1976 staged Le Apparizioni (Verifica del Miracolo) in San Damiano, a piece related to the Marian apparitions in the area, which included as witnesses figures such as Pierre Restany, Renato Barilli and Vanni Scheiwiller.

While being used by Invernomuto in several presentations, publications, showcases and works - with images and references - Noises from Above has never reached a final form and has never been completed: still today the artists consider it stuck in a standby phase. 
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