ALESSANDRA LETA
Born in Milan, 1997, Alessandra Leta is a research-based artist. Through the reworking of archival images, photographic staging, and elements of fiction, her artistic practice intersects digital archaeology and speculative storytelling as tools for rethinking the past into the present. She is currently based between the French Alsace and Switzerland.
She also works as a commercial photographer.
PROJECTS
The Unmovable Mover (2022-2024)
A Sudden Unspeakable Sweat (2024-ongoing)
Docile Flesh: Eye, Mouth, and Sugar (ongoing)
CV
CONTACT
hello@alessandraleta.com
instagram
+41 77 814 XX XX
ATELIER
Unterdessen
Schanzenstrasse 13
CH-4056 Basel
THE UNMOVABLE MOVER (2022-2024)
The factory stood for decades, until the fire. Arson, they said. It burned everything to the ground: the machines, the walls, the years – the business was gone.
Later, much later, a box turned up in an antique shop. A box of photographs, pulled from the fire. Saved, somehow.
But none of this is true. Though it could be.
The Unmovable Mover is a speculative reconstruction of a fictitious past, that of a small industrial complex in 1960s Middle Europe, as it was never portrayed. In fact, the series conceptually and aesthetically builds on several black and white photographs found and collected by the artist over the years. Diverse photographs, whose provenance remains unknown. Through a crafted narrative that seamlessly weaves together the photographical documents with images taken in 2022 and 2023, and by means of speculative storytelling, the project seeks to recreate a detailed history behind an imagined context, that of a factory, constructing a seemingly authentic yet entirely fabricated private past.
The title of the series is a play on Aristotle's concept of the "unmoved mover", which refers to the prime, unchanging source that sets all things into motion without being moved itself, the ultimate cause and explanation for the motion and change being observed in the world. The work draws parallels with the capital being the driving force that fuels and propels various elements within society, while not being inherently affected by the fluctuations it generates. Past century factories, as industrial signposts, have also played a tremendous role in urbanization, migration, and the emergence of distinct working-class identities. The cultural landscape around factories, from the architecture to the social dynamics within production communities, reflects the broader societal impact of the capitalist system. The Unmovable Mover visually reinterprets the connections and disconnections between management, labourers, and the finished products within these centres.
More about the Series on Fisheye Magazine (article by Milena Ill).
In 2022, The Unmovable Mover was selected for the Carte Blanche Étudiant Award issued by Paris Photo and PICTO. It was exhibited in Gare du Nord, Paris, that year and in several photography festivals across Europe since then.
This body of work is currently being reviewed to be tranformed into a photobook soon.