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Monte Conero (Mount Conero or Monte d'Ancona; Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔ(ː)nero]) is a promontory in Italy, situated directly south of the city of Ancona on the Adriatic Sea. The name Conero comes from the Greek name Komaròs, that indicates the Strawberry Tree commonly present on the slopes of the mountain. The Conero is 572 meters high and it is the only coastal high point on the Adriatic sea from Venice to the Gargano massif in the region of Puglia. Since 1987 it is a state park and protected ecological area (Regional Park) with 18 trails and several archeological/historical sites. Wildlife include Eurasian Badger, Beech Marten, Least Weasel, Yellow-bellied Toad, Peregrine Falcon, Kingfisher and Pallid Swift. Apart the strawberry tree, vegetation include Oak, Holm Oak, Aleppo Pine, Cupressus sempervirens and many others. Hotel Monteconero stands at the top of the Conero promontory at an altitude of 550m and enjoys a magnificent position with a view of the Adriatic and the gentle hills of the Marches. Originally an 12th century Camaldolite abbey, the hotel has retained its external structure, including the Romanesque Church of St. Peter.

Loreto is a hill town of the province of Ancona, in the Marche, Italy. It is mostly famous as the seat of the Basilica della Santa Casa, a popular Catholic pilgrimage site. The basilica is known for enshrining the house in which the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to have lived. Pious devotees believe that the same house was flown over by Angelic beings from Jerusalem to Tersatto ( Trsat in Croatia ) then to Recanati before arriving at the current site.. Ospedale "Santa Casa"is a hospital located in Loreto.

Hotel Monteconero

I was supposed to meet the eco-friendly shoes guy on the afternoon of the day after. He was supposed tp bring me a few snakes and some network cables, with those I would have filled the shoes he was producing and we would have filmed them. Then, the film would have been uploaded online, he would have paid me my fee and I would have returned to my life and to my art. What was my life and my life though? My friend Malcolm had just died, Vivienne Westwood - his girlfriend when he was 18- and a son Malc never wished to have, had turned his funeral into advertisement for their fashion industries. I was so shocked by that and by everything else that was happening around me that after Malcolm's funeral I had tried to get lost in Israel and Palestine but it wasn't easy.. So I had fly back to Rome where IAMGONNACOPY and PiracyManifesto, two important works of mine had opened at the MAXXI Museum in Rome just two days before coming to Conero. These works were part of the inaugural show of that Museum but I couldn't relate to the celebrations and euforia.. I felt that something was wrong..

The trees are different...

Early in the morning I went for a walk. A family of tourists was walking in front of me and then we encountered two opposite signs announcing : "This Way" and "Access Prohibited". Automatically, the tourists followed the first and myself the second option. Soon I realized that the trees in that prohibited area of Mount Conero were different.. Trees in Europe are mute, I had learned that lately in Colombia where trees instead are very talkative. For some reason, those Conero trees also had a voice: "we are happy here", I heard them saying.. I got excited!

A Hermit's Cave

A bit after I encountered a cave. Later I learned that it's a Hermit's Cave, that's where hermits retreated penitents to pray in solitude. This specific cave, known as "Pietra dell’Abate" and also as "Romitorio di San Benedetto" was artificial, build by the hermits or their followers around 1000.

A Hole

Then, I noticed a hole on the ground.. I sit there exhausted for a while.. Then, I put my leg inside that hole, took a picture and posted it on Facebook with the following memo "Stepping inside"

"There's only Facebook here..."

There's no path..

The path that had brought me there seamed ending at that hole on the ground. There were some ruins of what seamed to be once a small church. On the back of those ruins more trees and plants, I slipped through them and found myself surrounded by some very crazy-for Europe-nature..

there's only Facebook..

I looked around me.. No path.. How would I get out of there?

So I took a picture and posted it on Facebook..

So I took a picture and posted it

And then..

Then, walking a little further, I"ve seen below me the beautiful beach ever! "Le Due Sorelle"!

Le Due Sorelle

"Le Due Sorelle".. so close..

Just a cliff between us

It was a huge rock, quite vertical, beautiful.. I couldn't see if there was some path going to the beach from the bottom of that rock but I hoped there was..

So I sit on the edge of that cliff..

I tried going down slowly.. Then.. I remember everything: I lost my grip on the rock and slowly started going down. Two-seconds of slow falling and then I accelerated. Every detail is now time-stamped on me.

One-Two-Three-Four! Those first four seconds, I was mad with disbelief — upset by destin and annoyed that my crazy plan of arriving at the beach by descending the impossible surface of the very steep rock wasn’t working out. Five! By the fifth second, I was already falling very fast.

Six-Seven-Eight! I could only see a void and the edge of rock about 30 meters away. I thought — no, I knew — I was about to die. Nine-Ten seconds pass. But I couldn’t see the other side of the rock.. The huge rock was actually two rocks: some earthquake had broken it into two pieces a few thousand years ago.. Eleven! I land on my ass on that second piece of the rock. For a brief microsecond of that eleventh second, I felt relief and hope. Twelve-Thirteen-Fourteen: I start falling again — this time incredibly fast. A voice inside me cried, “Oh God!” Weirdly, I had the time and the presence of mind to remind myself that I didn’t believe in God. I really didn't want to count on Him, so I took my prayer back. (I also realized that I was addressing "God" in English, "why not in Greek or at least in Italiano, I thought? That definitely proves God is just some mental software). Fifteen-Sixteen! I felt my palms burning — holes were literally forming in them. I put all my effort into keeping my hands clamped down on the surface of the rock and tried to send my body to the left, I don't know why... I did the same with my ass and my back, which were also burning. Seventeen! Again I noticed the edge of the rock, certain that I’m about to die. I risk a glimpse at the beautiful landscape around me. I felt enormous pity and regret about my passing away. I also thought : "how strange, it's cloudy, it's summer already and this started as a very sunny day but I bet it will rain! Eighteen! I must have been rolling at that point because I have specific flashbacks — mixed images of rock, sky, rock, and then, suddenly, a little tree on the far left. (continues)

Written for Purple Fashion, Read

A little tree saved me..

"Nineteen: a violent impact. I smash violently into the little tree, hitting it first with my jaw and then with my forehead. Pure blackness framed my consciousness, and then, just as quickly, my eyes opened. The sky turned cloudy-gray overhead. My jeans were ripped apart. Blood was everywhere. But I didn’t know all this. I realized that I was still alive, and that it was about to rain. The change in weather seemed strange, because until that very moment, that very second of that day, Monday, May 31st, 2010, it had been sunny out. I was suddenly deeply tired, and thirsty, and I felt a rush of gratitude for the presence of that little tree. I now feel that if we do have religious feelings they should be directed exclusively toward trees. They seem to be the only truly holy creatures surrounding us. As I regained consciousness, I started thinking of my BlackBerry, wondering if it was still intact. I thought, “I can take some black-and-white pictures with it and post them on Facebook.” I tried to reach the back pocket of my Levi’s, where it was located. But the entire back of my pants was gone. Miraculously, my Blackberry was safe inside my little American Apparel bag that still hung from my shoulder. But my hands were covered in blood, so I couldn’t use it. The realization of this brought on a brief moment of panic. Then it started to rain and I turned my palms towards heaven so that the rain would wash some of the blood away. I opened my mouth to drink some of the rain. In some strange way, the rain relaxed me and made me feel happy. Everything that happened up until that moment, including my fall, made me realize that the one thing that really matters is just staying alive. I don’t remember how I walked the difficult terrain to the beach. When I made it there, I looked back at the rock, and in a loud voice, somewhere between a moan of pain and a cry of passion, I offered thanks — to everything. I thanked the tree, the rain, the rock, and the mountain for existing — and for allowing me to exist. Miltos Manetas, Mt Conero, July 2010.

Written for Purple Fashion, Read

In the hospital and back to my hotel

Emergency guys collected me

Ospedale di Osimo

They didn't do their work well in this hospital though.. "You are fine they said.. Go back to your hotel, enjoy your stay".. They had not x-Ray my lower back that was about to broke and I could have continued "enjoy" my life paralyzed.. Thank you for Nothing Ospedale di Osimo...

Pain but also happy-to-stay-alive

Soon I met a cave. Later I learned it's a Hermit's Cave.. That's where hermits retreated penitents to pray in solitude. This specific cave is also known as Pietra dell’Abate, o Romitorio di San Benedetto and its build by humans around 1000.

Stepping Inside...

Tired

They send me back to my Hotel

You are fine they say..(They haven't scanned my back). Go back to your hotel and return Friday here so we can change your bandages..

My Jeans at the hotel's floor

Tired

Tired

Then to another hospital..

Three days passed.. I was happy at my hotel with sting internet and good food. But of course, I was delirious.. Pain in all my body and blood everywhere. Then the curator who had put me in contact with that guy came by..

detail

My bed

My bed

Press..

More Press...

Angel Nurses

Then I"ve seen the beautiful beach of "Le Due Sorelle"

Nurses

"Le Due Sorelle".. so close..

Repairs

"Le Due Sorelle".. so close..

Relaxed

Then Katja came

Katja working

Happy In Loreto's Hospital

Before all this..

Priscilla on Skype

Priscilla on Skype

Priscilla on Skype

Bukowski in Loreto.

Bukowski in Loreto.

Bergman's "Wild Strawberries".

A cable

Looking at Bergman

Looking

Mantegna

inside..

Hospital Floor

Then I found a hole in the ground.. I sit there exhausted for a while.. I put my leg inside the hole, took a picture and posted it on Facebook with the following memo "Stepping inside"

Lourdes

Myself

La Buona Novella

FABRIZIO

CAMILLA

BEATRIZ and LOLA