MEMENTO MORI... 1, 2, 3 STELLA!

During the residency at BoCs Art, the façade of the house is transformed into a large light box. The windows are covered with translucent curtains and illuminated from the inside, turning the building into a luminous surface visible from the riverside. Across the curtains appears the phrase memento mori, written in a fragile, almost disappearing script. During the opening, a performance unfolds in front of the house. Together with the artist Luca Rossi, the artist plays the Italian children's game “1, 2, 3 stella.” In the game one player stands facing away while the others advance; when the leader suddenly turns around, everyone must immediately freeze. Anyone caught moving must return to the starting point.

The title recalls an overlooked linguistic detail: the phrase was originally “stai là” (“stay there”), later transformed by children into the more innocent sounding “stella” (star). The command to remain still therefore carries an implicit meaning - the final immobility of the body.

In several Balkan countries the same game appears under a different name, “Black Queen 1, 2, 3!” (Crna kraljica 1, 2, 3!), where the figure who turns around embodies a darker presence that controls movement. Within the installation this association brings the game closer to the idea of death itself. Placed beside the phrase memento mori, the children's game reveals its latent structure: a playful ritual that unconsciously rehearses the moment in which movement ends and one must simply remain.