Tip! *50 copies limited edition* This aquarium of invisible interconnections doesn’t open by itself, nor does it close on its own. We are a mellifluous scream echoing in the void of a crowded room. Just as every gesture is collective, so is its loneliness. The ministry that tends to it is an organ of collective unconsciousness. The outside pervades us. We peek through a peephole. We are the singular perception of the absolute liminality of the scent of place. A bedroom, a living room for company, an armchair now worn out emitting countless loneliness for decades and subcultures. Everything is left to sensations. Listening to a song enclosed within the windows of these headphones. An amplifier makes the panes of this discounted box tremble. Alone, we measure the success of our existence based on what is shareable. Language is distant music tangled on reels. However much we try to alter its movement, the blood flowing in our veins is every unnoticed action, until private.
This vinyl record is the result of a collaborative effort involving various individuals and perspectives, which came together during artist Rebecca Moccia’s three years of research on Loneliness in contemporary society. Moccia travelled across the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan, researching Ministries of Loneliness—components of the political orders of these countries—along with the places that shape political decision-making and daily social relations. The analysis investigated the structures and methodologies of neoliberal bureaucratic structures that create, rather than cure, this emotional state. Pivotal to the birth of this vinyl record is the collaboration between Moccia and composer Renato Grieco, from which Ministry of Loneliness Theme was born. Grieco traces the artist’s exploration of Loneliness through the audio tracks contained here — an acoustic translation of this complex feeling, given by a process of sound laceration. This joint project was followed by an additional collaboration among us, the curators, during which we perceived the urgency of the theme explored by Moccia in a new light. Subsequently, our collaboration with Cripta 747 further emphasised the pressing need for a treatment on this subject and enabled us to co-create The Loners, an exhibition held at via Catania 15, Turin, from 20 March to 10 May, 2024. The key to the production and conception of this vinyl record was ultimately the collaboration with Paint It Black, who also hosted a listening session of the tracks as part of the public programme of The Loners.
We are grateful to all the people and organisations who enabled us to realise this ambitious project and fulfil Moccia’s vision. In particular, we would like to express our thanks to the Italian Embassy in Tokyo, Marta Bianchi, Davide Caglioti, Canedicoda, Careof, Stefano Colonna, Gabriele Costantini, Vincenzo Estremo, Humboldt Books, Fondazione ICA Milano, Daniele Guerrini, Italian Council X | Ministero della Cultura (DGCC), Magazzino Italian Art, Mazzoleni London—Torino, Sara Moccia, Nanzan University, Chiara Nuzzi, Outset, Annalisa Pellino, Giacomo Raffaelli, Francesca Rossi, Margherita Rossi, Pietro Rossi, Elisa Troiano, Alexandro Tripodi, Jupiter Woods, Camilla Zennaro, Ilenia Zincone, Luca Zoccala, and all those we did not mention.
