The fragrant smell and sight of raw earth just after harvest and groundbreaking for new planting immediately around Civitella (and beyond) probably set into motion several reactions ranging from rumination over man’s attempts to harness his environment and produce from it using lowly serfs who ploughed the land but are an anachronism today, as we project into a bio-tech dominated future in which agriculture and manufacturing might soon become things of the past – being replaced by what I call “biofacture”. Which, when fine-tuned, one could, for instance, get one’s doors, tables, chairs, directly from fast growing designer seeds.

The Civitella residency couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. With a 35-year retrospective and a major solo exhibition a couple of years away, the pleasant and inspiring ambience of the Center created the most conducive circumstances and space in which to take stock and as well explore some fresh vistas.