20 seconds of wonderful madness

Twenty seconds is the time it takes the mind to process an emotion of extraordinary intensity. Everything that happens before that is just instinct: sheer madness for some, wonderful authenticity for others.

From childhood we are conditioned to control and restrain ourselves, and to behave in the way that best meets the guidelines of the society in which we live and the environment in which we grow up.

But it is not only our behaviors that are influenced by social conditioning: even the way we react to our emotions is often more rational than instinctive, more controlled than fully and naturally experienced.

There is only one exception: when something triggers in us an emotion of extraordinary intensity.

At that moment, all restraints jump, the management systems present in our minds are inhibited, and we can do nothing but surrender to the explosiveness of the emotion we are experiencing.

In that moment, what manifests in us is our primal energy, in an experience that is not only powerfully instinctive and rough, but also powerfully spiritual, in that for a moment we are actually free of all conditioning, totally authentic and connected to our deepest essence.

“20 Seconds of Wonderful Madness” is my attempt to show the beauty of this inner energy that manifests itself during a high emotional peak, where emotions become in effect the bridge between our human and spiritual identities.

As in the rest of my production, each work is the result of a dual process, but with substantial differences.

While usually the first step of the creative process is initiated by an esoteric ritual, in this case the spark is a moment of strong emotional intensity, which leads me to channel without any inhibition the overflowing energy of emotion, in a rough and unfiltered way, as in the tradition of Action Painting and Neo Expressionism.

Despite the absence of ritual, I still find in the act of painting the same mysticism, because the primordial energy to which I connect is, after all, always the same.

The second step of the process is also different from usual: instead of a phase of interpreting the symbolism of the works, the creative act is followed by a moment of intense contemplation.

I find it equally enriching to be able to stop and admire the purity of our primordial energy, which, though with different facets, retains its extraordinary beauty regardless of the kind of emotion that generated it. It is through contemplation that we can assimilate such an intense experience, and keep open the connection with our most authentic identity.

In a world where the most intense emotions, such as anger or depression, are often controlled, suppressed or hidden, “20 Seconds of Wonderful Madness” is an invitation to instead fully experience our emotions, especially the most intense ones, because they have the power to show us fragments of our truest and deepest identity. 

And, why not, also try to channel these emotions of extraordinary intensity into a creative act, so that we can then admire for ourselves the beauty of our own inner energy.