Joya: AiR / Kevin Bellò / ITA

photo Simon Beckmann

Joya: AiR / Kevin Bellò

“Early July, my mind was suddenly delivered to Joya: Air, and once unboxed from its fervent thoughts and 'Fragile' tape, I continued my trip on foot in the ecosystem. Solid upon the pedestal of its neck, my head was focused on observing and collecting the landscape, combining details to construct a ghostly point of view. An idea like a wind took me by surprise, and my soul rolled down from its plinth to join the hidden community of the desert. Tools down and hands up. Quiet like a warrior giving up on murder, I await the land for the first move of their new chosen play. This time, it was as if the quality of my posture, the tempo of my breath, and the vibration of my feelings somehow slowly nullified the innate prejudice the insects had towards me. Passing ants, bees, beetles, and flies approached me with curiosity. Noticing that all the branches pointed in every direction, I accepted my bewilderment. In the nights and days in Joya: Air, I dreamt my life this way.

In the end, I left the box of my head there to be eroded by the salty wind as I resumed my pathway. I will do it backwards this time: rewinding the obscure journey of everything I ever felt missing.

Kevin Bellò

Based between Porto, London and Milan, Kevin Bellò is a curator and researcher in the arts, food and ecology. He graduated with an MA in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art in 2021, and he is a curator for the ecological art collective Sympoietic Society and contributor to The Gramounce’s new Food and Art Alternative MA. Upcoming projects include curatorial work for the permaculture farm and art residency hub Quinta das Relvas (PT), as well as residencies in the UNESCO Biosphere Großes Walsertal (AT), Institute for Postnatural Studies (ES), La Foresta (IT), Matadero Madrid: Centre for Contemporary Creation (ES).