Seventh appointment of the new cycle of itinerant conversations "Venice as a model for the future?".

With the title "The lagoon / has the moon / between its legs / playing ball" (after a poem by Etel Adnan, from her book From A to Z, Post-Apollo Press, 1982), this series intends to explore how humans and more than humans co-exist in Venice and its lagoon after dark, when the wave of daily visitors leaves the city, nocturnal birds start to sing, beacons are switched on some boats to catch mullet and cuttlefish, and the moon dictates the movement of tides.

Eutrophy: εὖ good, τροϕία nourishment. A good state of nutrition of an organism or a system which, led to repetition and excess, degenerates into a state of eutrophication. "Repeating Eutrophia", a longterm project started by Confluenze in 2018, stems from research on ecosystems, in particular the intertidal zones of the Venetian lagoon.

Eutrophication, a phenomenon also called the "blooming" of waters, is present in many lagoons around the world, and is cyclical and progressive, given the rhythmic repetition of degrading human dynamics, the reverberations of which have serious repercussions for natural systems. It is therefore self-destruction, brought about by excessive prosperity, a reflection of similar dynamics taking place in a society of abundance.

The beginning of the performance reflects a free, linear, and repetitive style that describes the state of emergency, in which the lagoon finds itself ever more frequently. The public is also invited to follow the action through their mobile devices, seeking a relationship established between nature and movement, between virtual organisms and artificial bodies.

Following the flow of the performance, we move against the current, from the lagoon towards the sea, searching for a radically changing aquatic space to ask ourselves: what new perspectives open up from this inseparable relationship between ecosystem and humanity?

Confluenze is a collective, founded in 2018 and based on a fluid work dynamic that winds through individual research and collaborations between its members. In order to describe a series of specific places, the gaze and perception of reality become the collective’s way of studying co-presence. The evidence of the surrounding space hosts different methodologies of working in natural and urban spaces, using video, dance and performative practices.

Their work has been presented at a collateral event of the Venice Biennale (“Happenstance”, Scottish pavilion, 16th edition of the international Architecture exhibition, 2018), at U10 Artistic Space/Umetnički prostor (Belgrade, 2019), and at Traffic Frestival “Fare Water” (Pergola 2022). They have also collaborated with IUAV University of Venice by creating a performative workshop for the AESOP conference for architects and urban planners (Venice 2019).

Part of the cycle “Venice as a model for the future? - The lagoon / has the moon / between its legs / playing ball”.

"Venice as a model for the future” is a cycle of itinerant conversations, curated by Barbara Casavecchia and Pietro Consolandi and guided by activists, scientists, and guardians of this body of water and its inhabitants. This year's series, titled “The lagoon / has the moon / between its legs / playing ball” (again inspired by a poem by Etel Adnan), moves into the twilight and the silence of the night, exploring how humans and more than humans co-exist in Venice and its lagoon after dark.