Gian Marco Sanna: PARADISE

Gian Marco Sanna: PARADISE


CREDITS

GUP Author

Gabriela Gawęda


Artist Website

Gian Marco Sanna

Gian Marco Sanna (b. 1993, Italy) experiments in his photography with digital and analogue techniques. His work dives into the ecological and social consciousness where myths collide with reality. Sanna follows natural landscapes at the same time discovering human intervention in them. In his ongoing project PARADISE, he shows a dystopian version of the world which is engulfed in silence, crimson red, and black and white colours.

 

The red and dark aesthetics set the conceptual and emotional meaning for the entire project. While the redness creates an uneasy atmosphere, the blacks evoke a more grounding, yet profound feeling. The first ones cue immediately to a high alertness for the future which is interconnected with the gradual worsening state of environmental conditions and biodiversity on a global scale. The latter are convincing in their impression of matching the here and now. The composition of some works, for instance, the ones against the crimson red background resemble a science-fiction film set. With large empty spaces and few figurative characters present it makes them look as if they were taken on a Mars-like planet. Despite the otherworldliness of the works, the redness of the background is similar to actual daily reality, for instance to last year’s news footage of the San Francisco wildfires.

Sanna’s photography takes a fresh take on ecological destruction, a topic for which humanity has been trying to find a solution for nearly two decades. His work does not recycle the nostalgic feelings for the past, instead, its vibrant aesthetic awakens a sense of urgency in the viewer. The lines of his photographs guide the viewer’s eye through deserted landscapes or abandoned architectural ruins. Sanna photographs in a sharp depth of field which lets the viewer see every detail of the dystopian version of a paradise that might be awaiting us all. Next to compositional emptiness PARADISE shows humanity as fragmented, isolated, or anonymous whereas insects seem to be more in control of the setting. The vision of Sanna is engaging and makes the viewer imagine what is not here yet, but has the potential to arrive.