Tropical tree

Tropical Tree is a multimedia project inspired by the 1960`s play Nettaiju by Yukio Mishima.
In this play a tragic drama takes place amid the uncluttered minimalist setting of a Japanese garden, inside of which a mysterious tropical tree is rising outrageously.
Drawing upon abstract dialogues and memories, Mishima creates a story where nature stands as a mirror for the people`s feelings and passions.

Throughout a filmic and musical undertaking and the cooperation between visual artist Leo Pellegatta and composer Nicol Faer, the project evolved with the aim to open up Mishima`s literary work to an imaginary landscape and extend the horizon to several themes and allegories associated with the tree.

Tropical Tree has been presented as a multi-media installation and as an innovative form of musical theater, in gallery spaces and outdoor art festivals, exploring the dialogue between photography, cinema, improvised music and performance.

One of the main impulses of the idea has been the desire to bring together in a creative exchange and performance, artists from different cultures, backgrounds and practices.
For instance, the richness of the meeting with Japanese culture allowed assimilating in the project elements of ancestral disciplines such as Shôdo, Ikebana and Gagaku, as well as contemporary radical forms of expression like Butoh.

Several photographs created for the Tropical Tree, have been taken with a sequence photography camera.
In this way the project wishes to be as well, an ode to the pioneering artistic experiments made at the birth of silent cinema.