“Interruptio” a collection of essays compiled by artist Rossella Vasta (pub. EFFE Fabrzio Fabbri Editore)
Official Release of the book at Umbria Libri
November 11, 2010, Palazzo Cesaroni, Piazza Italia 2, Perugia, Italy
The book “Interruptio” is an anthology of essays dealing with the concept of interruption.
It grew out of conversations between Rossella Vasta, who was recovering from a major physical illness at her home in Corciano, Italy, and her friend and fellow artist from the United States, Don Kimes, who also suffered from an illness after a flood had destroyed his home and most of his artwork from the past 25 years. Both artists came to recognize that interruptions which were personally devastating had served as catalysts for creative activity. Both Vasta and Kimes recovered from their illnesses and began to produce artwork that would not have been possible without experiencing the interruption that an illness brings.
The book is introduced by the Thoreauvian comment that “Every creative event that ever happened in the history of the world was an interruption. Unexpected. Unplanned for”*.
This quote, used as a subtitle for “Interruptio”, serves as the inspiration for each of the chapters in the anthology.
Chapter authors include Pierluigi Brustenghi, a neurologist, and psychiatrist Laura dalla Ragione, who write passionately about how mental illnesses interrupted their patients’ lives. They tell about the complex relationships between doctors and patients, and the connection between the mind and the body, all of which are important in restoring one’s mental and physical health.
Paola Bianchini, Professor of Aesthetic Philosophy and Pedagogy at the University of Perugia, reflects on her own experience and the subject of interruption from a philosophical point of view.
Photographer Antonia Mulas writes about her own experiences with a serious health problem using humor as a way to explain the changes that occurred in her life.
In the year preceding a major illness, the artist Rossella Vasta kept a detailed journal about her new work which was significantly different from work she had done in the past. She writes that the new images she was creating seemed to anticipate changes that would occur in her body during illness and recovery.
Artist Don Kimes speaks about interruption in terms of its role in the creative process of making art.
Other chapter authors include Kristine Kiefer Hipp, Professor of the Doctoral Program in Leadership at Cardinal Stritch University in Wisconsin; Elisabeth Lewis, art therapist and professor at the University of Alverno, Wisconsin; Professor Gaetano Mollo from the University of Perugia Humanities faculty; and the late artist Barbara Schwartz (1949-2006) who wrote of interruption in terms of the events of September 11, 2001 and her response as an artist living in New York City.
“Interruptio” is dedicated to the notion that interruption, in all of it’s many forms, can be a positive catalyst for change. The publisher is pleased to announce that a portion of the profits from the book’s sales are being donated to the DAI Center, which helps women with eating disorders and related problems, in Città della Pieve, Italy.
The ebook version of “Interruptio”, edited by iDea, a new brand of EFFE Fabrizio Fabbri Editore dedicated exclusively to the world of digital publishing, will be available for the first time at Umbria Libri.
* From “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail”, a play by J. Lawrence and R.E. Lee, 1970, Hill and Wang, p. 27
Pictures of the event by Sergio Coppi
