It is often said that society is compounded by different figures with different roles and dynamics, but ultimately each of us, living and playing as in a chessboard, is the king, the sovereign of that our own chess play that is life. […] Yet, are we allowed to be “non-sovereign” at all, to retire from the image that society urges us to show to be: strong to the point of autarchy? After all, successful people need the support of others, as much asthe king rely on the other pieces in the chessboard, in an ever-shifting equilibrium.
The project “Sovereign” inquiries into such questions, oscillating back and forth from two opposite perspectives. By observing individuals’ environment and social life, their feelings and struggles, various stages and aspects of the chess play of life is unfolded through pen-and-ink drawings, sculptural art objects and ad hoc sound pieces.
Text: Giada Dalla Bontá (Excerpt from the foreword)