The Legacy (2008) Video 03:30 (still)
Monument. Love (2008) Installation – variable dimensions
Monument (2008) Re-contextualised and assembled objects, cm 64x54x32
The Look of Love (2008) Video 02:10 (still)
Žilina, The Legacy, Stanica Cultural Centre/Žilina-Záriečie Station, February 2008
Žilina, The Legacy, Stanica Cultural Centre/Žilina-Záriečie Station, February 2008
Žilina, The Legacy, Stanica Cultural Centre/Žilina-Záriečie Station, February 2008
Žilina, The Legacy, Stanica Cultural Centre/Žilina-Záriečie Station, February 2008
Rajec Valley, Josef Liska with his assistant Edo Lednicky working on the wood carvings of Monument (Love), February 2008
Rajec Valley, Josef Liska working on the wood carvings of Monument (Love), February 2008
Rajec Valley, Josef Liska working on the wood carvings of Monument (Love), February 2008
Rajec Valley, Josef Liska working on the wood carvings of Monument (Love), February 2008
Rajec Valley, wood carvings of Monument (Love), February 2008
The Legacy sees the history of Czechoslovakia through the lens of the love story between the Slovak national hero Milan Štefánik and Giuliana Benzoni.
This work connects the words of Alberto Benzoni, two works made in Slovakia, and a fairly abstract video accompanied by an indie version of The Look of Love. Benzoni talks about his aunt Giuliana, her romantic relationship with Milan Rastislav Štefánik, and how charming and courageous he was. He tells the anecdote of when the Czar of Russia asked the young Slovak, known to be a good astronomer as well as an aviator, what the best spot to observe the stars was, and Štefánik answered: from the bottom of a well. Likewise, I observed the daytime sky through the telescope of a circular shape, showing a disappearing cloud absorbed by solar heat.
© Cristiano Berti
2024
Milan Štefánik (1880-1919) was a Slovak astronomer, general and national hero. He died in a plane crash. Giuliana Benzoni (1895-1982) was an important figure in the Italian political and cultural scene in the first half of the last century.
The project comprises two videos, a wooden sculpture, and an assemblage of objects. These works were created between Italy and Slovakia at the beginning of 2008, after being invited as an artist-in-residence by Stanica/Truc Spherique, a cultural organization in Žilina.
In the short video The Legacy, Alberto Benzoni, Giuliana’s nephew, describes the figure of Milan Štefánik. Born in 1935, Alberto Benzoni did not know Štefánik personally, so he talks about him by repeating what he heard from his aunt, entwining historical facts with anecdotes and more intimate details.
The image of Štefánik is at the centre of the work Monument. The public is invited to observe a portrait of Štefánik, a tiny stamp, through an optical cone composed of a series of old gilded frames, which decrease in size.
Monument (Love) is a sculpture consisting of two large hearts carved in fibreboard and propped one against the other. The hearts are a perfect replica of some decorated biscuits commonly used in Slovakia. They were carved by a craftsman from the Rajec Valley, where woodwork is an ancient craft and still widely practised.
The fourth work is the video The Look of Love: a cloud disappears from the sky in just over two minutes.
The Legacy (2008): Two videos, one installation, one assemblage of re-contextualised objects, each forming an individual work
Lenght: 3:30 (The Legacy); 2:10 (The Look of Love). Uniques
Carved medium-density fibreboard and wood, cm 100x100x15 each (Monument – Love). Unique
Re-contextualised and assembled objects, cm 12x52x160 (Monument). Unique
The Legacy
Camera and editing by Antonio Lucarini
The Look of Love
Camera by Cristiano Berti
Editing by Antonio Lucarini
2008
The Legacy, Stanica Cultural Centre/Žilina – Záriečie Station, Žilina, Slovakia
2018
Holečková, Monika, «Giuliana Benzoni – Star of unused film», Pandorinaskrinka.sk, October 10
2008
«Cristiano Berti: Dedičstvo», Stanica (Žilina), 2: February
Hapčo, Peter, «História a láska: Intímny život generála Štefánika», Zilina.sk, February 27
«Láska generála M. R. Štefánika v Stanici Žilina – Záriečie», Asvet.sk, February 28
Marčeková, Katarina, «Zláski Štefánika a Giuliany sa stala legenda», Žilinský Večerník (Žilina), XVIII, 11: March 11, p. 9
Masarykovà, Zuzana, «Asertívny umelec sa stàva nudným», Stanica (Žilina), 3: March
«Milenka ho volala malý Slovák», Nový Čas (Bratislava), February 29, p. 13
«Spoznaite intímny život generála Štefánika na Stanici Žilina – Záriečie», Kultura.sme.sk