Living  Paraphernalia

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MC22  (2022)

118 x 82 x 52 cm (H x W x D)

“Living Paraphernalia - MC22” is the first outcome of a long-term investigation into human perception of need, dependency and addiction. 

The term paraphernalia indicates a set of “objects that are used to do a particular activity” (Merriam-Webster, 2022). In other words, equipment, or a toolkit. However, despite its generic definition, this noun appears to be inherently associated with drug habit. A quick search on Google Images will return how culturally close and direct such a link seems to be in current society. 

His smartphone, his Mastercard, his meds and his COVID Certificate are the things that Marco Calzolari regards as essential for living in 2022. So necessary, yet detached from their function and unable to serve their original purpose, these objects now offer a glimpse into their owner’s identity and the context he belongs. Stored in capsules and frozen in time, they’ve become as emblematic as useless, somehow as dead as alive.

©Marco Calzolari / SINTETICO 2024 - P.IVA: 02132860384