Alyssa Casey - Written pieces accompanying Elena Del Rivero's exhibitions A drawing fallen from the sky and Flying letters. Falling for Andromeda - Presentation given at the opening of A drawing fallen from the sky Elena del Rivero A drawing fallen from the sky, 2010Installed at La Conservera, Ceutí, Spain312 x 195 in. Colored beads, fake pearls, and sequins on floorPhoto courtesy of La Conservera and the artist Falling for Andromeda: Notes on the recent work of Elena del Rivero Wearing her jewels, Andromeda is chained to a sea cliff by her father. She must remain there until she is found and married. Discovered and saved by Perseus as he flies overhead, she is freed. Upon her death, Andromeda is rewarded for her hardship: Athena creates her image in the northern hemisphere of the night sky near Perseus, her husband, and Cassiopeia, her mother. In the year 964 a Persian astronomer observed a “small cloud” within the Andromeda constellation. By 1925, modern astronomers had determined this “small cloud” to be a galaxy. This Andromeda galaxy is what you see before you today: a swirling mass of cosmic dust falling towards the central black hole, the generative force of the galaxy herself. A terrible, monstrous, mysterious thing, a black hole invisibly exists at the center of every galaxy, including our own Milky Way. Einstein’s own calculations predicted black holes, yet he absolutely denied the possibility of their existence, claiming them to be too terrible for nature to allow. Within the context of Elena del Rivero’s concurrent exhibitions at La Conservera and Espacio AV, this awful force is harnessed, embraced, and transformed as is the generative force of the artist herself. The galaxy is what you see, just as the work of art is what you see, yet, invisibly, behind both is a creative, mysterious, insurmountable force drawing all things to it, drawing in references, materials… drawing interpretations, questions… Here at La Conservera we see cosmic material falling towards the black hole, invisibly bound by the force of the artist’s creative energy. At Espacio AV we see the one thing innately capable of defying our earthly version of the black hole’s massive thirst - feathers - falling (perhaps falling in love) drawn by the artist’s inspiration. Visual Poem - included in the catalogue for Flying letters (Espacio AV, Murcia, Spain)

lysacasey@gmail.com

Written pieces accompanying Elena Del Rivero's exhibitions A drawing fallen from the sky and Flying letters.

Falling for Andromeda - Presentation given at the opening of A drawing fallen from the sky

Elena del Rivero

A drawing fallen from the sky, 2010

Installed at La Conservera, Ceutí, Spain

312 x 195 in. Colored beads, fake pearls, and sequins on floor

Photo courtesy of La Conservera and the artist

Falling for Andromeda: Notes on the recent work of Elena del Rivero

Wearing her jewels, Andromeda is chained to a sea cliff by her father. She must remain there until she is found and married. Discovered and saved by Perseus as he flies overhead, she is freed. Upon her death, Andromeda is rewarded for her hardship: Athena creates her image in the northern hemisphere of the night sky near Perseus, her husband, and Cassiopeia, her mother.

In the year 964 a Persian astronomer observed a “small cloud” within the Andromeda constellation. By 1925, modern astronomers had determined this “small cloud” to be a galaxy.

This Andromeda galaxy is what you see before you today: a swirling mass of cosmic dust falling towards the central black hole, the generative force of the galaxy herself.

A terrible, monstrous, mysterious thing, a black hole invisibly exists at the center of every galaxy, including our own Milky Way. Einstein’s own calculations predicted black holes, yet he absolutely denied the possibility of their existence, claiming them to be too terrible for nature to allow.

Within the context of Elena del Rivero’s concurrent exhibitions at La Conservera and Espacio AV, this awful force is harnessed, embraced, and transformed as is the generative force of the artist herself. The galaxy is what you see, just as the work of art is what you see, yet, invisibly, behind both is a creative, mysterious, insurmountable force drawing all things to it, drawing in references, materials… drawing interpretations, questions…

Here at La Conservera we see cosmic material falling towards the black hole, invisibly bound by the force of the artist’s creative energy. At Espacio AV we see the one thing innately capable of defying our earthly version of the black hole’s massive thirst - feathers - falling (perhaps falling in love) drawn by the artist’s inspiration.

Visual Poem - included in the catalogue for Flying letters (Espacio AV, Murcia, Spain)

01/12/10; 8:30 am - N train across the

Manhattan bridge, heights of downtown

obscured by passing clouds.

The Paraclete

Latitude: 40˚43'59"N

Longitude: 73˚59'13"W

“Perhaps the black hole becomes the

seed from which the galaxy sprouts.”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“Good morning!” “Hello!” “How are you?”

“Inclusus… a chance to create...”

“Vedo la luna, vedo le stelle,

Vedo Caino che fa le frittelle… “

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“… Andromeda, is ‘to think of a man…’"

“… mas eu não penso senão em si.”

11/11/09; Wednesday

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fresco, Imperial Roman

Mythology Room,

Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase  

Perseus and Andromeda

Late C1st BC  

With time to pass on the upper east side, I

feel drawn to the Met and the

Greco-Roman wing. To my surprise, I find

the galaxy rising before me, arms

outstretched, hip cocked, wrists chained

to the sea cliff, waiting…

Latitude: 40˚46'42"N

Longitude: 73˚57'45"W

“Vedo il lupo incatenato,

M’ha rubato ‘l mi’ castrato,”

“Black holes … form when stars die.”

“He thought they were anathema.”

“… gostaria que pensasse que é triste ser

marreca e viver sempre só à janela…”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“Andromeda … is charging toward us…”

“Liebende, Marina, dürften soviel nicht von dem Untergang wissen.”

“… this monstrous, mysterious thing.”

“Eu às vezes dá-me um desespero como

se me pudesse atirar da janela abaixo…”

“We are falling toward each other…”

“…Marina, die stürzenden Sterne!”

“Il castrato ‘un era mio,

Era del prete di San Mattio.”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“… pequeno aspecto do meu tinteiro…”

“San Mattio lavorava,

E la capra si bagnava,”

“… the galaxies circle and entwine.”

“… porque eu não pensei senão em si…”

“… and one day we will collide.”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“O perché ti bagni tanto,

A quest’acqua e a questo vento?”

“Laborious, physically taxing work…”

“E eu pensei que faço eu no mundo …”

“…gave a scribe a chance to purge his

soul.”

“The galactic center is playing hide and

seek behind overcast skies.”

“The central stars were shrouded by

cosmic dust.”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“Do you think we’re doing okay, Alyssa?”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“Julia, no llores, ¿por qué lloras?”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“aufschau! Wieder. Leicht und gesichtlos”

“Come, stand back here and look.”

11/15/09; Sunday

Frick Collection; East Vestibule

Tiepolo; Perseus and Andromeda 1730;

oil on paper affixed to canvas;

20 3/8 in x 16 in. (51.75 cm x 40.64 cm)

I turn a corner and, suddenly, the

voluptuous arms of the galaxy twirl

skywards, flying!

Latitude: 40˚46'16"N

Longitude: 73˚58'2"W

“O die großen Sterne.”

“…wrestles it to a window, …”

“… chego à minha janela sobre a rua…”

“… y comenzaba a cantar una canción

olorosa a estrellas...”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“ …olho o grande céu e os muitos

astros,…”

“… and throws the massive manuscript to

the ground.”

Andromeda (M31, NGC 224, Uppsala

454, MCG 7-2-16, PGC 2557):

Right Ascencion: 00h 42m 44.3s

Declination: +41˚16'9"N

Red Shift: -301 +/- 1km/s

Apparent Magnitude: 3.44

Apparent Dimensions: 190' x 60'

Distance: 2.54 +/- 0.06 Mly

“Y las lágrimas que descendían por el

rostro sin cesar, fueron quedando, sólidas y

brillantes en el aire.”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“La luz perla…”

La Conservera

Latitude: 38˚04'45"N

Longitude: 01˚16'07"W

“Wir rühren uns, womit? Mit

Flügelschlägen,…”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“… os meus sonhos substituem bem…”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“… o universo e as suas estrelas….”

“mit Fernen selber rühren wir uns an…”

“… y casi las rozaban con las alas.”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“… sou livre com um esplendor alado cuja

vibração me estremece no corpo todo.”

dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack, dack

“Thank you thank you, have a good

evening.” “My pleasure, you too! See you

tomorrow.”

Sources: English. Author's diaristic voice, Chris Miller's website about the formation of black holes, Wikipedia "Andromeda (mythology)" article, transcripts of Monsters of the Milky Way and The Devil's Bible. Italian. Nursery Rhyme passed down to author from her Italian American grandparents. Portuguese. Fernando Pessoa's Letter from a Hunchback to a Metalworker and The Book of Disquiet. German. Rainer Maria Rilke's Overflowing heavens of lavish stars, Ignorant before the heavens of my life, Elegy to Marina Tsvetayeva, and a letter to Marina Tsvetayeva. Spanish. Entre Visillos by Carmen Martin Gaite and folk tales of love from Guatamala, Nicaragua, and Brazil.

lysacasey@gmail.com