Act Natural (Becoming Animal)SEBASTIAN COLLETTIn his work Sebastian Collett thinks back to the experience that brought him in residence first in Castelfranco Veneto and then in Lecce, in two such different places on the peninsula whose “nature”-the subject of investigation-often looks so different. But Collett seems to follow only his own nature, in which photography-making, as Walker Evans recalls, is due to a firmly instinctive reaction toward the visual object. “Of course, I never tell my subjects-that’s the surest way to get a stiff, awkward pose. But what would it mean for a human being to act like nature? And conversely, how does human nature act? When does a boy become a burning bush, or an insect? What happens if a cow or a tree desires the freedom we reserve for human beings? Can branches become a tongue, as dinosaurs became the child’s plastic toy? What if his hand becomes the branch that dangles the pomegranate? Will the snake tempt us to eat that forbidden fruit? Will it bite its tail or the hand that feeds it? None of these thoughts occupied my mind as I explored the various terrains of Castelfranco and Lecce. For me, photographing leaves no room for thought. The act itself must become intense, become animal, become imperceptible.” (S.C.) Project realized in collaboration with Transizioni as part of the artist residencies “OMNE/NATURE” (Castelfranco Veneto 4-12 September, Lecce 13-20 September 2021), published in the volume True Places Never Are (Manni editori, Lecce 2022) and exhibited during OMNEFEST 2023 (Villa Parco Bolasco – University of Padua, September 22 – October 29) 
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