Mattia Parodi (Genoa – 1989) studied Industrial Design at the Faculty of Architecture of Genoa and Photography of Cultural Heritage at ISIA Urbino, completing the MA course with a thesis developed with Piergiorgio Sorgetti and supervised by Alessandro Carrer and Federico Clavarino.
He has participated in several workshops with authors such as Domingo Milella, Guido Guidi, Niccolò De Giorgis, Stefano Graziani and Jason Fulford. In 2016 he was selected for the project “Abitare il Deserto”, curated by Cesare Zaffagnini and Osservatorio Fotografico and during the same year, he took part in the collective project “Lacuna/ae. Identity and Modern Architecture in Venice” by Eleonora Milner. In 2018 he participated in the artist’s residence “Cuore di Pietra” curated by Ente Parco Conero, Federico Clavarino and Skinnerboox.
His work has been exhibited in several group exhibitions including “Step, Kneel, Rub, Touch, Look, Grasp, Repeat” at Page Blanche in Paris and The Print Space Gallery in London for the Palm Photo Prize award. He currently lives and works in Milan.
Piergiorgio Sorgetti (Atessa —1988) studied Visual Arts at the University of Bologna and Photography of Cultural Heritage at ISIA Urbino, completing the MA course with a thesis developed with Mattia Parodi and supervised by Alessandro Carrer and Federico Clavarino. He has participated in several workshops with authors such as Domingo Milella, Guido Guidi, Niccolò De Giorgis, Stefano Graziani and Jason Fulford.
During 2018 he took part in the collective project “Cuore di Pietra” organized by Ente Parco Conero, Federico Clavarino and Skinnerboox and during the same year, he was selected for the artist residency curated by Ardesia Project “In Between Shores” with 4 other international authors. He has exhibited his work in several group exhibitions including “Abitare il Deserto”, curated by Cesare Zaffagnini and published by Osservatorio Fotografico, “Step, Kneel, Rub, Touch, Look, Grasp, Repeat” at Page Blanche in Paris, ” The Sky Open Twice ” at the gallery Jest in Turin and at The Print Space Gallery in London for the Palm Photo Prize award. He currently lives and works in Bologna.
The Missing Eye
Recent studies published by the Cognitive Brain Research have demonstrated, using instruments that measure dream activity, that people blind since birth dream in images. Several hypotheses suggest that these representations are a result of the collaboration between the activity of the visual cortex and the activity of other sensory organs. However, it isn’t excluded that the human being has an innate visual memory, parallel and pre-existing to that which develops through the retinal system. Some images seem to be independent of the visual apparatus and even though they appear in dreams, it is still possible to see them.
With which eye do we perceive them?
“The Missing Eye” is a research that turns the photographic device to visual projections that aren’t deduced from our immediate experience of reality, but are the result of the combination of different cognitive paths in which all senses participate in sight. The gaze dissolves itself and the eye becomes a changing object of our perceptions, an abstract organ capable of processing images beyond retinal impulses. The photographic gesture captures the visual mechanism and transcends it, bringing attention to the typical transfigurative mental visions of the dream, sunk in memory and relegated to the unconscious.
To view more of Mattia Parodi’s work please visit his website. And to view more of Piergiorgio Sorgetti’s work, please visit his website.