Schrödinger’s cat goes through a trauma and does not - Eleonora Roaro

In her artistic research Eleonora Roaro investigates the nature and history of moving images, from the fascination and experimentation with pre-cinema devices to the use of animated gif, a media that gained a new peak of attention in recent years. In this respect the idea of loop has a central role: it is understood at the same time as the infinite repetition of a set of given movements that are always the same, as well as an eternal dual relationship between the analogic and the digital.
In the work conceived for the exhibition at Link Cabinet, titled Schrödinger’s cat goes through a trauma and does not, Roaro actually combines the use of both analogic and digital techniques. The hands of the artist move a thaumatrope, an ancient optical toy that exploits the persistence of vision: starting from two pictures displayed in a very quick sequence, the human brain perceives a third image that doesn’t exist in reality and that is the sum of the previous two. The optical illusion created by Roaro doesn’t want to simulate the movement, it wants to create instead this third image that exists only in the eyes of the viewer. The images chosen by the artist recall a conceptual paradox: combining the pictures of a cat with one of an explosion, the animation refers to the infamous paradox of Schrödinger’s cat, dead and alive at the same time. In a last conceptual twist and word pun, the thaumatrope (from ancient Greek “wonder turner”) becomes a traumatrope (from ancient Greek “injury”), whose victim is the poor cat, eternally in between life and death.

Eleonora Roaro was born in Varese (IT) in 1989. She studied Photography (BA – IED, Milano), Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies (MA – NABA, Milano) and Contemporary Art Practice (MA – Plymouth University, UK). Her practice involves images in motion, with a particular focus on video and archaeology of cinema. She often revisits ancient devices and iconographies in order to reflect on how technologies influence the way we see and shape our vision. Among her recent exhibitions: Luisa Catucci Gallery, Berlin, 2017; Triennale di Milano, 2017; Mediterranea17 – Young Artist Biennale, 2015; Friche La Belle de Mai, Marseille, 2015; and in festival such as The Gifer, Torino, 2017; Miami New Media Festival, 2015.