Ombre Perenni

In 2001, Kristin Jones started working with engineer Renzo Piva from the Department of Fluid Dynamics (Engineering Faculty) at the University of Rome, towards a project for Piazza Tevere titled Trilogy. The project included three elements: projections of She-Wolf animations, a  fluid serpentine form floating on the river and sound, all travelling downstream with the current. While at the university, Jones discovered the extraordinary historical cloister within the building complex – San Pietro in Vincoli and saw an opportunity to test ideas for the Tiber River.

The University President accepted a proposal to create a solstice event for the cloister. The event, titled Ombre Perenni, included sound and animations exploring the enigmatic legend of the She-Wolf, the symbolic icon of the mythological beginnings of Rome. Created with Alberto D’Amico, Alexandro LaDaga and Silvia Manteiga, the animations questioned the boundaries between nature and civilization, wild and tame, instinct and culture. The intangible projected figures transformed between wolf and woman as they walked around the cloister, flowing into the corners and across columns, and intersecting the well at the center of the space.

Maurizio Martusciello composed sound for the occasion by mixing the voices of wolves and humans with the sounds of water.