Gino De Dominicis

The famous video Square Circles presents a very simple scene: a man sitting by a river, with his back to the camera, slowly and casually throws stones into the water. However, this uncomplicated action conceals an attempt to overcome the laws of nature. As the title of the work suggests, De Dominicis is waiting for a stone to create a square on the water, which is, of course, impossible. The desperate impossibility of the result he is looking for creates a poetic image defiantly addressed to eternity.

The story of the making of the video shows that it arose from despair. De Dominicis’ original plan was to film pigeons flying out of the waters of the Tiber. Instead, the birds, unprepared for such treatment, had to be saved from drowning by the artist and the film crew. The idea had to be changed on the spot and that is how De Dominicis created one of his most recognizable images.

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