AES+F Inverso Mundus

Collateral Event of the 56th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
3 May – 17 Nov, 2015
Magazzini del Sale, Magazzino #5 / VITRARIA Glass +A Museum, Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Venice

“Inverso Mundus” by AES+F is 7-channel HD video installation displayed in two venues: Magazzini del Sale, Magazzino #5, Dorsoduro 262 (Fondamenta Zattere Ai Saloni) – the main venue, and Vitraria Glass +A Museum, Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Dorsoduro 960 (Fondamenta Nani).

The series of historical engravings “Inverso Mundus” (The World Upside Down), known since the 16th century, depict a pig gutting the butcher, a child punishing his teacher, a man carrying a donkey on his back, men and women exchanging roles and costumes, and a beggar in rags majestically giving alms to a rich man. In these engravings there are demons, chimeras, fish flying through the sky, and death itself, depicted variously with a scythe, or behind the mask of Doctor Plague.

In this interpretation of “Inverso Mundus”, a multichannel video installation, absurd scenes from the historical carnival appear as episodes of contemporary life. Characters are acting out scenes of absurd social utopias, changing their masks, morphing from beggars to rich men, from policemen to thieves. Metrosexual cleaners shower the city with debris. Female inquisitors torture men on IKEA-style devices. Children and seniors are locked in a kick-boxing match. “Inverso Mundus” is a world where chimeras are pets and the Apocalypse is entertainment.