Ancient myths drew on imaginative characters to personify and synthesise abstract concepts that were hard to describe. Instincts, urges and emotions thus became the legendary figures of graceful youths and bearded old men, who were extremely effective at transmitting what could not be conveyed with words. Indeed, they composed wonderful theatrical scenes that we still refer to today. In Eros and Thanatos there is an assumption of the importance of opposites, and the simple statement that, with Eros, life is born from attraction and mutual seduction, and one might add beauty and happiness.
Eros è uno stato mentale ed è la migliore condizione possibile, il migliore strumento per entrare in contatto, mettere in rete gli otto miliardi di cervelli che compongono l’umanità di oggi
Conversely, in Thanatos there is rejection and mutual denial, and one might add dread and sadness. Vitality and immobility, brightness and darkness, hospitality and aggressiveness are attributes that we use to define the characteristics of objects and the environments where we live and where we desire to live. There is just as much erroneous Eros as there is Thanatos when it comes to creating disturbance and confusion, as well as greatly hindering the emotional urge towards improvement and evolution. Objects and their shapes help us to look ahead, communicate, understand each other and organise ourselves, because there is no alternative to this. Eros is a state of mind and it is the best possible condition, the best means to establish contact with and between the eight billion brains that comprise humanity today. Turning them into one great universal mind, a network where the synapses truly connect each and every “dweller” (as Gio Ponti would have said) of this world.
Shapes are an element of contact between the abstractness of ideas and our physical perceptions, and as such they cannot avoid communicating sensations and emotions. Engaging in the study and creation of forms is an anything but frivolous or fetishist activity, simply because it represents what cannot be portrayed otherwise, as well as translating the thinking of humans and their time into solid material. Whoever is responsible for portraying the ambitions and desires of humans has the elementary but decisive task of distinguishing Eros from Thanatos.