Constellations

Abstract

Chapter 4 of the book "Photography and Invisible Borders: Spaces of Imagination between Switzerland and Italy" redirects attention to Italy’s southern margins, dynamically connected to the north. Following the migration “crisis” at the Como-Chiasso border, migrants initially arriving in the south advanced towards the northern margin for further European movement. At the southernmost point, the border traverses the island of Lampedusa, a focal point explored in Displacement Island (2006), a photographic work by artist Marco Poloni. Poloni’s method, assembling visual constellations, offers a unique epistemology, transcending purely perspective and linear representations. Lampedusa emerges in this constellation as a fluid and evolving space. The chapter later introduces Henri Lefebvre’s theory on the production of space, emphasising the processual existence of the borderscape and challenging hegemonic representations. Lefebvre posits space as a product of nature and human activity, delineating three interconnected categories: spatial practices, representation of spaces, and spaces of representation. These categories address the material, normative, and symbolic dimensions of space. In the chapter’s conclusion, Lefebvre’s theory is applied to Poloni’s work on Lampedusa, delineating the three dimensions of space within the island’s imaginative constellation. Lefebvre advocates reclaiming dominated space and representations through imagination. The chapter links this to the potential of photography and its constellations as a means of envisioning an alternative space.