SILENCIO (A FLOWER IS NOT A FLOWER)

Chinatown Soup is pleased to present Silencio (a flower is not a flower), a landscape photography series by Edo Costantini, on view from April 25 - May 7, 2023. This exhibition marks the completion of the artist’s latest EP, SILENCIO. Four Songs for the End of our Times, made in collaboration with Mauro Refosco (percussions) and Gabe Cabezas (Cello), released as The Orpheists and his titular book debut, featuring photographic images and music scores. Please join us for an opening reception on Thursday, April 27, from 6-8 pm and a reading with live music on Thursday, May 4, from 7-9 pm. RSVP here.

A practice has existed, since time immemorial, attributed to both Eastern and Western monastic traditions, one that has been revitalized in recent years. Fortified in the heart of German romantic culture (and later in its philosophy), Waldeinsamkei is understood as “forest solitude” [and] as “the act of going to the forest” or getting lost. The concept harbors ascetic ideals, mystical horizons, and concerns about virtue.

For years, before gaining therapeutic credentials to detoxify from contemporary urban life, Edo Costantini indulged in a routine: walking through the Katonah woods with his camera for hours every day. He settled with his family in this town located north of New York City; the geography of the place offered him aesthetic and ethical space. 

This series of photographs taken between 2018 and 2023 opens the possibility of measuring oneself with the world…not only activating the naturalist’s attitude of the collector and the work diary but also developing sensitivity in that register. Thus, the inventory of moments captured by Costantini vacillates between the regime of the encounter: a color, a light, a brightness, a movement, and the construction of regularity, the spectrum of a pattern.

–excerpted, “Waldeinsamkeit and idiorhythmia. On Edo Costantini”, by Bárbara Golubicki 

Edo Costantini (b. Buenos Aires, 1976) is a composer and photographer based in the hamlets of Bedford Village, Bedford Hills, and Katonah, New York. Edo’s photography centers the beauty of terrane, portrayed through his ethereal depictions of upstate woodlands. Edo has exhibited in New York and Miami. His work has been featured in various print publications such as I-D Magazine (UK), BIG Magazine (Buenos Aires), and Diario La Nación. The artist is represented by Mario Cohen Fine Art Gallery in Sao Paulo. 

In 2019, Edo founded The Orpheists – a collaborative band for which he writes piano music. Edo is also the founder of KOLAPSE, a company dedicated to producing and distributing auteur-driven films, indie music, and art. Earlier in 2007, he helped establish MUBI, an online film-streaming platform, production company, and film distributor for both emerging and established filmmakers. From 2001 to 2006, he served as the Executive Director of MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires).

A message from the artist…

Dear music lovers,

In your hands, you are holding my first sheet music book containing the scores of all the pieces which form part of SILENCIO. Four Songs for the End of our Times, my first EP written during the strangest times of our lives; and “Otto’s Dream”, a new song that will be part of my upcoming album.

Printing this collection of songs has been as important as releasing the album, which we performed for the first time at PRAXIS gallery in Chelsea, New York, on June 9, 2022 on the occasion of Herbarium. A Botanical Journey, an art exhibition’ by Delfina Braun, the artist who made the Cover and who happens to be my lovely wife.

The process of writing each piece on a sheet of paper, line by line, note by note and with a pencil, was captivating. In this romantic and meditative gesture of being present, I was able to find peace in my heart. In these glorious mornings of silence, I found sounds that touched me deeply. 

Composing this project was an intimate, yet isolating process. This is why recording SILENCIO collaboratively with other musicians who added new voices and textures brought me great joy. I want to express gratitude and special thanks to Mauro & Gabe, two extremely talented musicians who joined the project at an early stage. And to Jake for doing amazing work with the recording and mixing, which took place at Super Legal Studios in Brooklyn, New York. 

The selection of photographs, which I took during the course of these past years, complete my creative process, one that continues to evolve and shape me both as a human being and as an artist. Sometimes I envision myself as an abstract painter, who combines textures and colors as a way of liberation.

I hope you enjoy the work and get inspired to play my music as well as to create more songs of your own.

Edo