“Scientists say we are made of atoms, but a tree whispered to me that we are made of dreams,
a wave told me that we are made of journeys, a child playing with fairies told me that we are made of wonder.”
– Fabrizio Caramagna –
There is a condition, a state of mind that each of us often needs, it is the one linked to the sense of awe, of amazement. It is what leads us back to our soul, a sort of window to our inner world, to our deepest sensations, which reconnects us with the boundless beauty and the mystery of the world around us. It plays with our child self, the one that we always carry inside ourselves even when we think we have left it, forgotten in the folds of time and life. Even when we think it was never there.
Awe is not necessarily reserved for the extraordinary; it also permeates our daily life: a situation, a place, a feeling, a memory, a piece of music, a work, a look, a discovery, the unexpected. Everything can lead us to wonder.
And so, when a few months ago I was asked what I felt I needed for the new issue of LYF, the answer was spontaneous: I need AWE!
I find Awesome to be a wonderful word and it is considered a philosophical term par excellence. I have read that at the beginning of philosophy there is amazement, wonder. At least that’s what Plato and Aristotle say. The amazement, the sudden surprise, the abrupt no longer understanding one’s own being and that of the world push us to ask ourselves questions that lead to the search for answers. This feeling or state of mind was called by the Greeks thaumàzein, which indicates both the joy of novelty and the dismay of the unknown.
It is said that awe lies at the source of artistic creation, when the work passes through the sight, hearing and soul of the user. Wonder is found at the bottom of every restlessness in the world, it is the original movement of knowledge, the lever from which everything begins.
And it is therefore to AWE that we have dedicated this issue.
And so, the works of Stefano Faravelli, this absolutely brilliant, visionary artist, give life to our Art Gallery Inspiration. I personally find them wonderful, they took me to distant worlds, I got lost with them and it was beautiful.
It was exciting to work on a truly surprising shooting in which we engaged in creating backgrounds, and sometimes even outfits, generated through AI.
It was a new, complicated but also fun experience.
Our super photographer Cesare Medri with the artistic direction of Monica Alesina did an extraordinary job and, after all, they are absolutely extraordinary!
Surprising the three protagonists of our Seek Around, from Leandro Erlich, who plays with our perceptions, leading us towards new realities through interaction and play, to Jeffrey Chong Wang, with apparently silent works, which tell scenes of oriental everyday life but strongly linked to the unexpected, oneiric, mysterious interior worlds.
Finally Sanja Marušić: her use of color is powerful, surprising. Her images are seductive, symbolic.
Also the opticians we met and talked about have interesting, strong paths, linked to ideas, dreams, the desire to create something that leaves a mark.
And last but not least, the extraordinary artists, visionaries, crazy people, who create wonderful frames and are our constant source of inspiration, a timeless source of amazement, they are absolutely AWE!
In a world where our attention is often divided among screens and distractions, nurturing a sense of awe becomes an act of reclamation. It is an acknowledgment of the profound wonder that exists all around us and a celebration of the limitless capacity of the human spirit to be moved by beauty.
PS. Thanks a lot to the amazing LYF Team, absolutely and powerfully AWESOME.
