ANTEFACTUM 

It’s a sculpture that invites the viewer to reflect about their own complexity, the thoughts and emotions that guide their actions, the sculpture is called ante factum or before the act, the sculpture itself is moment suspended in time before the action is realized and cannot be undone. It invites the viewer to witness this private scene and reflect about their own fragility and agency, and question whether or not they are also a witness to their own actions, ideologies and drives. 

The sculpture was inspired by the Sicilian story of “La testa di Moro” , a love affair of a young Sicilian girl who loves to plant flowers in her terrace and falls in love with a young moor whom she gives herself to, only to discover that he was married with children and returning to his home country. Feeling used and betrayed, she beheads him and uses his head as a vase for her flowers. The sculpture captures the moment before this act.

This story relates to a universal fragility and complexity while also unveiling our own subjective perception of good and evil. Both characters believed that they were moral in their choices, his ultimate decision to reunite with his family and her revenge. As Nietzsche puts it “there is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness”