THE EDGE of the EDGE = 0
The border’s border as meeting place: territory without limits
The problem of migration in Europe, with the developments that have emerged in 2015-16 and those hovering on the horizon for the years to come, has the potential to disrupt the internal balances of all countries. Today’s Europe has unfortunately failed to convey the image of a whole based on adherence to the principles European civilization has pledged to spread in the world, a territory abiding by the imperatives of hospitality and humanitarian solidarity, a haven of relative wellbeing and social sensitivity as a haven for political refugees and migrants from the rest of the world. This was the image the European elites wanted to transmit, as a rightful factor of pride for national authorities. Behind the rhetoric of this inclusive identity of Europe a clear plan of defense of the particular interests of each nation and of the economies of all civil societies is hidden. These societies seem increasingly to seek shelter in what can now be more aptly defined as the “European fortress,” closing borders in the fear of occupation and plundering of their privileges. Europe increasingly resorts to violence, the building of walls, the marking of boundaries and territorial confines where relationships of force establish the main criteria of conduct.
In the latest works of Bottarelli, photographs, videos and installations provide stimuli for thinking about the idea of the border as discovery or barrier, and the figure of the artist himself in the condition of wayfarer, nomad or experimenter, balanced between physical and symbolic territories.
Bottarelli’s latest works attempt to evoke and reflect on these dilemmas through poetic images, combining photography, drawings, paintings and video installations.
The concept of the border and of the geographical/political boundary is translated into a philosophical/scientific discourse in these works, in which it is possible to observe, from microcosm to macrocosm, the boundaries of each identity in dialogue and relation with the political and social dynamics with which we all must come to grips.
Politics, for modern philosophy, should represent a suspension of the state of war. But as Foucault explains, politics and war are instead two different strategies with which power expresses itself, and the rule of law is a continuation of the law of nature. Politics does not begin where war leaves off, because war is its origin and its background, and therefore “war is simply the continuation of politics by other means.”
Art has the task and duty of trying to change the vantage point.
The works shown by Bottarelli in Bolzano represent an attempt to suggest a balance, through reflections on the precarious condition in which we live in this difficult, complex historical period being witnessed by all us Europeans, and others as well.
In nearly all the human disciplines there is a common denominator that unites them: the concept of the limit, the border.
In these works no border separates what they are trying to communicate into infinite geographical, mental and physical cubicles.
A visually engaging effort to destroy prejudices, to unite instead of divide, to restore balance instead of falling.
The attempt in this installation – at least this is its innermost hope – is to make people reflect, to break up the preconceived notions raised by the present situation and political emergency.
Political thought and the logic of profit make promises they intend to keep: the end of the cognitive process, the depletion of cognitive possibilities, reduced to knowledge only “useful for man,” a definition that castrates, once and for all, the very nature of knowledge.
The experience of that balance invades everything, permeating our experience, and the boundaries, the borders, the limits are relegated and imprisoned, in this installation, inside what we are still prompted to think.
Art has the job of continuously changing the vantage point on the world, showing that humanity is no longer the individual, but a multitude of living beings that have to find a balance, or run the risk of extinction over the short term.
Eliminating the borders and limits between mind and world means imagining a better world, and making viewers dream about it.
Name: Baghdad Wall
Country: Iraq
Built year: Under construction
Length: 5 km
Type: Civil pacification
______________________________
Name: Belfast Peace Lines
Country: Northern Ireland
Built year: 1970s
Length: .5 km
Average type: Civil pacification
______________________________
Name: Ceuta Border Fence
Country: Spain/Morocco
Built year: 2001
Length: 8 km
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
______________________________
Name: China-North Korea Barrier
Country: China/North Korea
Built year: Under construction
Length: 1,416 km
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
______________________________
Name: Egypt-Gaza Barrier
Country: Egypt/Palestinian Territories
Built year: 1979
Length: 3.071 km
Type: Anti-terrorism and illegal immigration
_______________________________
Name: Indian Kashmir Barrier
Country: India
Built year: 2004
Length: 550 km
Type: Anti-terrorism
________________________________
Name: Indo-Bangladesh Barrier
Country: India/Bangladesh
Built year: Under construction
Length: 3,268 km
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
________________________________
Name: Iran-Pakistan Barrier
Country: Iran/Pakistan
Length: 700 km
Type: Anti-drug smuggling
________________________________
Name: Israeli-West Bank Barrier
Country: Israel/Palestinian Territories
Built year: Under construction
Length: 703 km
Type: Anti-terrorism
________________________________
Name: Kazakh-Uzbekistan Barrier
Barrier Country: Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan
Built year: 2006
Length: 45 km
________________________________
Name: Korean Wall
Country: North Korea/South Korea
Built year: 1953
Length: 248 km
Type: Conflict zone
________________________________
Name: Kuwait-Iraq Barrier
Country: Kuwait/Iraq
Built year: 1991
Length: 193 km
Type: Conflict zone
________________________________
Name: Malaysia-Thailand Barrier
Country: Malaysia/Thailand
Built year: Proposed
Length: 650 km
Type: Anti-terrorism
_________________________________
Name: Melilla Border Fence
Country: Spain/Morocco
Built year: 1998
Length: 11 km
_________________________________
Name: Russia Chechnya Barrier
Country: Russia
Built year: Proposed
Length: 700 km
Type: Anti-terrorism
_________________________________
Name: Sharm El-Sheikh Barrier
Country: Egypt
Built year: 2005
Length: 25 km
_________________________________
Name: Turkmen-Uzbekistan Barrier
Country: Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan
Built year: 2001
Length: 1,700 km
Type: Anti-illegal immigration
_________________________________
Name: United Nations Buffer Zone In Cyprus
Country: Cyprus/Northern Cyprus
Built year: 1974
Length: 300 km
_________________________________
Name: United States Mexico Barrier
Country: United States/Mexico
Built year: Under construction
Length: 3,360 km
Type: Anti-illegal immigration and anti-drug smuggling
_________________________________
Name: Western Saharan Berm
Country: Morocco/Western Sahara
Built year: 1987
Length: 2,700 km
Type: Conflict zone
_________________________________
