Just around the corner from the Ponte Vecchio, tucked away on the oft-overlooked vicolo dell’Oro outside Gallery Hotel Art, sits ‘I Eat Earth,’ the newest installation from artist Simone D’Auria. Running concurrently with Expo 2015 in Milan, ‘I Eat Earth’ ties in to the official theme of the world’s fair: ‘Feeding the planet, energy for life.’
D’Auria, an artist, designer, and for the last three years, Art Director for the hotels owned by the Ferragamo family, in partnership with the Lungarno Collection and Gallery Hotel Art, has formed recycled plastic into large-scale spoons. Though most of the spoons are set on the hotel facade, two larger versions, one horizontal and one vertical, adorn the ground, giving the artist’s take on world hunger. D’Auria explained that using the image of spoons to explore the idea of nourishment was a natural choice, since they are the first tools used when feeding a baby. The installation is about more than physical hunger, however: D’Auria’s work alludes to hunger for life, thought, freedom, experiences, and openness to others.
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TF recently stopped both locals and tourists to see just how they were reacting to the installation. Passersby had varied responses:
‘It’s beautiful, but I’m not sure whether everyone will understand the true meaning.’
‘There should also be a green spoon to complete the colors of the Italian flag.’
‘I wasn’t expecting to turn a corner and see something like this.’
‘It was clean, bold, and set up nicely. I didn’t know what it was, though.’
