LAVORO, LAVORO, LAVORO

CATIA MONTAGNA

// Catia is a self-taught photographer and a professional economist by training. Catia’s fascination with photography began in childhood, captivated by the act of holding a camera and peering through the viewfinder. This sense of wonder persists, and she believes that these simple actions facilitate a deeper immersion in and understanding of the world. Her series “Lavoro, Lavoro, Lavoro” (work, work, work) is a tribute to the Italian painter Remo Gaibazzi, who created an abstract series of paintings of the same title.

A member of the Progressive Street group of photographers, she has contributed to collective Fanzines and exhibitions, and her work has been featured in publications such as L’Oeil de la Photographie, The Pictorial List, and Inspired Eye Magazine. She is currently collaborating with award-winning poet Andy Jackson on a photo-poetry book.

Catia views photography as a powerful form of communication, recognizing the dynamic interplay between the photographer, their subjects, and the viewer. Through her work, she seeks to unveil the complexity and hidden poetry of life.

“Art in its history has always denied being work, because it wanted to be a higher expression.”

Remo Gaibazzi

What draws you to the arts?

Even without a formal artistic educational background, I have always been drawn to the arts (literature, paintings, music). I find engaging with art liberating: art can make you fly, transcend your skin. It triggers this urge to try to express feelings and ideas that cannot be easily put into words.

What do you like best about this project?

I like the idea that, just as in the production of goods, in art what unites the ‘act’ and the ‘result of the act’ is time: labour-time. I am a rather instinctive photographer and do not spend unusual amounts of time in planning and post producing a photograph. Developing this project took much longer than usual, I used a tripod, positioned things and light sources. I felt much like an artisan. But then the hard-working artisan, from Latin, is one who practices the arts…

This series by Catia delves beyond the utilitarian function of everyday objects. We often interact with these goods – even those produced by machines – solely for their practical use and exchange value. However, Catia’s work encourages us to consider the unseen labor and transformation embodied within them. These objects represent a process, a culmination of time and human action often hidden from our casual gaze. Yet, with a closer look, a glimpse of this hidden reality becomes possible.

Catia utilizes a macro lens to meticulously examine textiles, peering deep into the intricate interweaving of their constituent fibers. Through this process, the object transcends its utilitarian purpose and becomes a testament to action – a silent record of energy and time invested. The interplay of light filtering through the fabric creates a sense of movement and irregularity within the repeated patterns. These abstract, decontextualized forms hint at the unseen labour-time that shaped them.

This project draws inspiration from the work of Italian painter Remo Gaibazzi (1915-1994). In his later years, Gaibazzi produced a series of paintings where he obsessively repeated the word “lavoro” (meaning both “work” and “labor” in Italian). He experimented with various techniques, colours, and geometric structures to express this word.

The resulting abstract forms, often reminiscent of woven textures, mirrored the act of creation itself. The word “lavoro” became both the source of the pattern and the essence of the artistic message – a message only revealed upon close examination. As Gaibazzi himself stated, “it is in proximity that the reading begins…no longer the totalizing gaze…the reading begins of the movement of proceeding…of the movement of development…The word ‘lavoro’ … means ‘I work’ and, at the same time, it is the noun ‘work’, that is, it is simultaneously act and result of the act, it is verb, therefore movement, and simultaneously it is what happens in this movement.”

Catia’s series resonates with Gaibazzi’s exploration, utilizing photography to reveal the hidden narrative within seemingly ordinary objects. By encouraging viewers to look closer, she invites us to appreciate the unseen labour and transformation that breathes life into the things we use every day, and art alike.

The quote above was selected by Catia as it relates to the concept of her series. She asked us to include a second quote, by Aristotle, and we gladly oblige:

“The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.“

Click on the photos to see the original larger version. Images may be cropped for layout.