Introduction
In my living room, a mural artwork has inhabited the space since 2015: a composition that united the dance of human figures with the symbolic form of the trigrams from the Yìjīng, the Book of Changes. Today that installation gives way to a new creation, but not without leaving behind a trace of meaning, memory, and beauty.
The artwork that departs
The installation created by the artist Delfina was placed on the wall of my living room in 2015 and remained a visual and emotional point of reference. The dancers performing Igor Stravinsky’s celebrated Rite of Spring—a nod to Wim Wenders’ film on the life of Pina Bausch—are depicted not through traditional figurative drawing, but through the characters of the trigrams from the Yìjīng, known as the Book of Changes 易經: a symbolic language that blends movement, ritual, meditation, and transformation.
I chose to refer to the wisdom of the eight trigrams because, as tradition reminds us, “the eight trigrams … describe movement, space, time, and that which transcends these dimensions.”
Thus, that artwork accompanied both convivial moments and the silences of my living room, transforming the wall into a “place” vibrant with symbols and lived experience, a witness to my inner life.
The artist
Delfina De Pietro was able to give shape to a dialogue between dance and symbol, between the memory of the stage and philosophical reflection. Her intervention—unique and deeply personal—embodied my intention to connect a domestic, intimate, interior space (“home” as “soul”) with forms of contemporary art and ancient traditions. It is significant that she will be the artist entrusted with creating the new installation: a sign of continuity, trust, and renewal.
I would like to thank her here and highlight this collaboration, which makes the house not only habitable, but inhabited by art.
The new installation on its way
Although the wall is about to change its attire, the sense of wonder remains: the new work will be created by Delfina, and it will soon be revealed. For now, I leave only a hint: just as “faithful to the Book of Changes 易經, change shifts the vision,” so too does the gaze that inhabits the domestic space acquire a new direction. A new vision, a new story—but the same desire: that art may inhabit the home and become a co-protagonist in the transmutation within the indissoluble bond between inhabitant and dwelling.
Conclusion
Every artwork inhabits a time, and when that time comes to an end, it is not a farewell: it is a passage. I thank the installation that has accompanied us, I thank Delfina for her creative gesture, and I welcome the new work to come.
“This work has lived with me; it has accompanied conversations, silences, and the changing daylight. Now it makes room for a new image, but it does not depart entirely: it remains in the rhythm of things that change, in the gesture and in the soul of those who create and those who behold.”
