Nigredo

Nigredo is a project by Greg Jager curated by Miniera (curatorial duo composed of Giuseppe Armogida and Marco Folco), in the underground spaces, once an anti-aircraft bunker, of IT’S Hub, in Rome.

The project, which in its transdisciplinary nature has its foundations in questions that intercept anthropology, philosophy, astronomy and archaeology, intends to put the experience of darkness at the center, therefore obscurity, uncertainty, on a day in which the sunlight reigns: June 21st the date of the “summer solstice”.

The title itself refers to the Latin name of the first alchemical phase, which represents the initial state of “blackness” of the process of transmutation and decomposition of matter.

In a completely suspended environment, where human action seems to have been abruptly interrupted, reflections arise on the decadence of an anthropocentric vision and on the transience of human existence. Greg Jager intervenes, leaving the space itself intact; it is the long tunnels dug into the tuff and the earthy floor that speak of our ephemeral nature.

The small luminescence of the smartphone torches helps guests in their uncertain crossing, in the distance greenish lights open up the possibility of entering side tunnels and hidden rooms.

The environment resonates through the harsh/noise tracks produced in situ thanks to the collaboration with the artist Luca Baioni. A disturbing sound that leads us to the end of the route, where the remains of a Two-Faced Janus (entity anciently associated with space/time gaps), made of black ice, testify to the slow disintegration of the human species as we know it, to leave space for a radical transmutation.