What Remains of Erto?

Traces of Erto

Olivia Palma

Traces of Erto

EN

This book began with an arrival, not a question. I came to Erto without the language to define it, and found a place that speaks through what remains: marks on walls, worn paths, objects forgotten, and silence between houses. Often described through loss, Erto also continues in small gestures; a repaired door, an orange peel, a restaurant light. The photographs and fragments here do not represent Erto fully; they reflect one limited encounter. Voices are missing, gaps remain, and this work acknowledges them. It does not speak for anyone, but lets ordinary traces stand on their own. Whatever meaning exists lies in the quiet persistence of the place.

 

DE

Dieses Buch begann mit einer Ankunft, nicht mit einer Frage. Ich kam nach Erto, ohne die Worte zu finden, um es zu beschreiben, und fand einen Ort, der durch das spricht, was bleibt: Spuren an den Wänden, ausgetretene Pfade, vergessene Gegenstände und die Stille zwischen den Häusern. Oft beschrieben durch Verlust, lebt Erto auch in kleinen Gesten fort einer reparierten Tür, einer Orangenschale, einer Restaurantlampe. Die Fotografien und Fragmente hier repräsentieren Erto nicht vollständig; sie spiegeln eine begrenzte Begegnung wider. Stimmen fehlen, Lücken bleiben, und dieses Werk erkennt sie an. Es spricht für niemanden, sondern lässt die alltäglichen Spuren für sich sprechen. Jegliche Bedeutung liegt in der stillen Beharrlichkeit des Ortes.

 

IT

Questo libro è iniziato con un arrivo, non con una domanda. Sono arrivata a Erto senza il linguaggio per definirlo, e ho trovato un luogo che parla attraverso ciò che rimane: segni sui muri, sentieri consumati, oggetti dimenticati e silenzio tra le case. Spesso descritta attraverso la perdita, Erto continua anche nei piccoli gesti: una porta riparata, una buccia d'arancia, la luce di un ristorante. Le fotografie e i frammenti qui presenti non rappresentano Erto appieno; riflettono un incontro limitato. Mancano voci, rimangono lacune, e quest'opera le riconosce. Non parla per nessuno, ma lascia che le tracce ordinarie si distinguano da sole. Qualunque significato esista risiede nella silenziosa persistenza del luogo.

 

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A project made in the course

Emergency

Emergency “Walked out this morning, I don’t believe what I saw, Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore…” sang The Police in Message in a Bottle—lyrics that now sound like a premonition of our present, in which it is hard to distinguish between Sting’s cries for help and the plastic that plagues our seas. The word “emergency” by definition indicates a critical and unforeseen situation that demands for immediate intervention: its etymology thus refers to a sudden state, for which a remedy must urgently be found. However, our times are marked by a number of continuous states of emergency – the exact opposite of exceptional events – of the most various kinds, which perpetuated themselves in time: from the trails of the recent pandemic, to the unresolved environmental and climatic crisis, as well as the humanitarian, social, geopolitical and economic crisis: a list large enough for filling this text by herself. Getting back to the meaning of this word, what makes us trouble is the total absence of reaction by our leaders, and this inactivity has been cyclically repeating itself in modern history.
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