LIFE IS BRIEF, DEATH IS COMING

In April 2019 artist Hari MacMillan participated in the Earth Residency at The Museum of Loss and Renewal in Collemacchia. Her studio had once been the ‘Mario Lanza Museum’ that housed ephemera relating to the career of the great American-Italian operatic tenor and actor, and was a venue for memorable social gatherings.

Mario’s Father, Antonio Cocozza was born in the village in 1893 and the family home was situated where the building housing The Museum of Loss and Renewal now stands. Through research and art practice Hari is endeavouring to unite Mario with this site.

The work in the exhibition titled ‘Feet of clay’, made from clay collected at Lago di Castel San Vincenzo, took its name from an expression that denotes a weakness or character flaw, especially in people of public prominence. The phrase appears in the ‘Book of Daniel’ in the Old Testament, describing a dream experienced by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon:

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image … And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
 
Contemporary media emphasises our stars’ faults and weaknesses. Had Lanza been surrounded solely by people with his best interests at heart, he would perhaps have lived to fulfil his dream of returning to the operatic stage rather than dying in a weight loss clinic at the age of 38. The title of the exhibition ‘Life is brief, death is coming’ is the toast Mario Lanza gave in his last year of life. It aptly depicts his awareness of the fragility of existence and the certainty of oblivion. A tragic yet humourous salute, it conveys his melancholic nature and understanding of his own character.

Hari’s exhibition was curated by Tracy Mackenna & Edwin Janssen and compliments the work they are doing on the subjects of portraiture and the space between what is private and what is public in projects such as ‘Erasmus de Clown’, Chabot Museum, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The exhibition marked the inauguration of The Museum of Loss and Renewal’s new art space in Collemacchia, municipality of Filignano (IS), Italy.

Hari MacMillan is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Scotland who holds a BA (Hons) in Printed Textiles, an MPhil in 2D&3D Motion Graphics and a Master of Fine Art in Art, Society and Publics.