Terra animata (1967)

Luca Maria Patella composed a series of performative actions by his wife/collaborator Rosa Foschi and playwright Claudio Meldolesi in a sparse landscape. Bodies, objects and natural features are shown from different perspectives and angles, proposing a sort of visual harmony within the silent film. Through geometry, texture, movement and stasis, Patella animates, creating a sense of communion with nature on a similar wavelength to Ana Mendieta’s actions, and with a stark difference to the comparative coldness and objectivity that the work of land artists of the contemporary era would reflect.