The video work Pupa juxtaposes footage of an elderly woman baking the traditional Abruzzese Pupa cake and of children forming a Pupa from soil. As the domestic atmosphere shifts to one of increasing eeriness, the creation of this Pupa becomes a profound exploration of intergenerational transmission of tradition as much as of care responsibilities and social norms. These gendered subjectivities and their interactions reflect life’s transformations while revealing the brutality and ambiguity that women’s bodies endure and how these have historically been shaped by time and politics, as exemplified by the human intervention on both the earthen Pupa and the edible one. The video culminates in an uncanny gesture as a woman – possibly an embodiment of the Pupa – enters the scene, opening the work to multiple interpretations, playing with ambiguity to explore the body’s erotic and visceral dimensions, while unsettling the familiar cycle of care, affection and dominance.

Pupa, 2024. Single-channel video, color, sound.Video stills.

PUPA

PUPA

2024

HD video, 13’

Film by Grossi Maglioni

with Angelina D’Alonzo, Bianca Giannantonio, Agata Giannantonio, Cosimo Ren, Pulvirenti Maglioni, Francesca Grossi

Produced by Grossi Maglioni and Supernova

DOP & camera: Mirai Pulvirenti
Music: Andreina Noce
Editor: Lea Dicursi
Sound design & mix Antonio Giannantonio
Colorist: Camilla Cattabriga
Vfx artist: Giaime Del Bello
Titles: Arnoud Verhaeghe

video