15 Questions With… Angelo Bonetti

How are you at the moment?

I am as always in a constant search for a psycho-mental balance, quoting a well-known Italian singer-songwriter, I am looking for a permanent center of gravity, anyway now I am in my city Turin, in Italy, and I am organizing the departure to continue a job started a few years ago, I feel the time has come to resume that project and close it.

What is your morning ritual? How does your day begin?

My day begins by having a lot of coffee and talking to my partner, then we meditate for about ten minutes, and I write for 5 minutes automatically without thinking, in my diary.

What, right now, can you see?

I see everywhere the white walls of my room, the record player on the floor and all my plants on the left. On the table to the right, the MacBook, cigarettes, my notebook and a glass of water.

What artist, project, book would you recommend we see/follow?

An artist I admired is David Wojnarowicz, I’m very attracted to all the people who don’t want and can’t conform to what a certain society wants, I think Untitled (One Day This Kid…) is an important work. Other artists who are a source of inspiration are people like Jonas Mekas, Stan Brakhage, Kenneth Anger – all people who went against the tide and were not afraid to be themselves. Photographically, a project that I really appreciate is The Essential Solitude (2018) by the artist Tereza Zelenkova.

Tell us about your process when starting a new project.

My projects start when I feel the need to pour out what I feel, my feelings must be transformed into images, from that moment a search starts for a considerable time, I write, read, buy books, scribble on my diaries. I love this creative process because it is intense, only after all this do I start working with images.

What has been your favourite collaboration?

It was fantastic to work together with Valentina Piccinni and J.M.Caimi, they took care of my latest work He grew up in the fog from the beginning, they are very high level artists and wonderful people, I admire them a lot.

What is your greatest achievement?

Having made a difficult choice, that of dedicating myself completely to photography, I am 45 years old, I left everything a few years ago and I threw myself into the void, everything suddenly became difficult, any certainty has vanished, but now I am myself.

What is your greatest regret?

In life there is a time for everything and it should be respected, I went too fast. Also, not having studied languages, this creates a lot of difficulties for me.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Never be afraid of anything or anyone, just listen to yourself and you will always know which direction to take. Life is simple, take small steps and always allow yourself a second choice.

What is your latest project about?

After many years I was able to complete a project, He grew up in the fog, that I cared a lot about. It was very important because it allowed me to close a chapter in my life that had brought me pain for a long time. It’s an introspective research through a deconstruction and reconstruction of memory, born from an urgency to oppose a situation of discomfort that began in the post-adolescent age and continued over the years.

A malaise with regard to a past time, which it seems to me that I have not lived or escaped from. I have very fragmented memories in my mind that dissolve, not distinguishing reality from imagination. Research and revelation of a time, where emotions such as sadness, shame, anxiety, restlessness, nostalgia, have fed in me a sense of constant loss.

With the images I created my own personal map to orient myself and continue further, the past and the future are placed on the same level giving life to a form of continuous present.

This work has allowed me to find a key to relate to that tormented self and forgive him.

What are you researching at the moment?

Right now I am working on a project that takes its cue from an essay by Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus. This focuses on the concept of the absurd that is the lucid reason that accepts its limits, that spasmodic intention to seek meaning in one’s efforts, explaining itself between the repetition of actions without result, tending to the alienation of the human being and the value of a gesture as an end in itself himself in a process without conclusion, but also without resignation. A divorce between the spirit that desires and the world that disappoints.

What can you not work without?

Without a doubt, fear, books and the internet.

What challenges have you faced working in your industry?

I think there are a lot of things that count even if you don’t say it openly, there are a lot of schemes that are difficult to disassemble. What interests me is being myself in what I do, having my own voice, not being a prisoner of any label, doing new things, experimenting and growing as an artist.

What are you hoping for in 2022?

This will be a very important year, I will have to make some important choices, it will be a great bet. I hope to win at least a few hands.

Share a song with us, what are you listening to at the moment?

Piero Umiliani, L’uomo Elettronico