ABOUT:
"Malattia" is a multimedia performance that evokes loss and remembrance through choreographed dance movements, video projections and sound narratives.

DESCRIPTION:
“Malattia” is the artist’s second performance project where he explores the use of his body as an instrument of artistic and experimental expression. The performance art piece was initially conceived in reaction to the general public’s diminishing concerns about HIV/AIDS. Field recordings, the music of violins, prerecorded text narratives, and video clips tell the story of a man who, while confronting the death of a loved one, learns to face his own mortality, comes to terms with his own happiness, and accepts his reality.

IMPLEMENTATION:
Presented in an intimate manner where the only thing that separates audiences and the artist are a number of clinical white screens, the piece starts with the sound of bells in almost complete darkness.  When the last bell is heard, the sounds of Rachmaninoff’s music for violin start to fill the space. A backlight is turned on to reveal a man’s silhouette. The dancer’s movements progressively change with the music and the shadows created by his body are reflected on the white medical screens.  The final part of the piece consists of a video projected onto the screen. The visual narrative is composed of various landscapes in different seasons while a voice over continues the narrative introduced by the dance part. 

DOCUMENTATION:
"Malattia" was presented at the Queens Museum of Art for World AIDS Day in the exhibition FRAMING AIDS 2009: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, curated by Ada Cintron.