Albedo

2023, installation - performance, 100% pure Merino wool carpet; 62% cotton 38% orange fibre (obtained from the orange albedo) fabric; 49% cotton 36% recycled cotton 15% lyocell, natural dye with Haematoxylum campechianum, Mais Morado, Arthrospira platensis, Indigofera tinctoria, Clitoria ternatea

Albedo is a project that translates the dimension of the glacier—too often perceived as remote, abstract, almost intangible into a concrete emblem of collective stewardship. The work engages the public in a shared experience, transforming reflection on the climate crisis into a necessary gesture: one that is tangible, intimate, and participatory. The title refers to the scientific phenomenon of albedo, specifically the ability of light-colored surfaces, such as snow and ice, to reflect sunlight and contribute to cooling the planet.

At the heart of the project lies a double-faced mantle, made from an innovative fabric derived from orange peels. The white side evokes the purity and vital function of glaciers in climate regulation; the grey-blue side, instead, recalls cryoconite, a mixture of dark dust that, when deposited on ice, accelerates its melting process.

The performance unfolds through a gesture both essential and radical: the audience is invited to wear the mantle and pass it on from person to person. From this sequence, a symbolic chain is generated, an invisible thread linking each participant to the planet’s destiny. To wear the mantle means to assume, even if only for an instant, the role of custodian of the glacier, transforming from observer into protagonist of the climate narrative. It is an act that calls for both individual and collective responsibility, overturning the passivity of mere spectatorship into active participation. Yet the gesture also carries a warning: if the mantle falls to the ground, breaking the chain, the work records a moment of collective failure. When the mantle falls to the ground, the interruption of the chain is not only a break in the performance but also a metaphor for the fragility of our collective responsibility. The fall becomes a visual rupture that everyone can see and feel, embodying the moment when inaction, distraction, or carelessness undermines the continuity of care for the planet. In this sense, it serves as both an alarm and a warning: a symbolic reminder that climate action cannot be delayed or delegated, as even a small failure in the chain of responsibility can accelerate the crisis. It highlights the urgency of acting now, before the ecological balance reaches a “point of no return,” where the damage caused by global warming and glacier melting can no longer be reversed.

An essential element of Albedo is also the choice of places that host the performance: not simple backdrops, but actors in the same dramaturgy, selected for their direct connection with the tangible effects of climate change.

The first chapter takes shape precisely in Valgrisenche, a territory sculpted by the progressive retreat of the glaciers, where the landscape itself becomes voice, body, and amplifier of the artistic message.

In Albedo, the relationship between body, gesture, and environment is transfigured into an immersive experience of awareness. The landscape, fragile and sublime, ceases to be a distant horizon to contemplate and instead offers itself as a space to feel, inhabit, and safeguard. Each participant thus enters a collective narrative in which art, science, and responsibility intertwine, reminding us that caring for the world begins with ourselves.