Two historical souls coexist in Pieve Tesino, two distinct sediments that have been deposited over the last three centuries; one speaks to us of a collective history – stories of individual men – who, setting out from Tesino with determination, courage and a spirit of sacrifice, took the prints that portrayed the subjects of the time all over Europe; the second layer is the individual story of a man who instead imagined and pursued Europe, Alcide De Gasperi, Italian statesman and founding father of the European Community. Between these two layers, though separate, there are points of contact, themes on which Benjamin Jones’ work dwells.
To Live Inside a Second is a diffuse work that winds its way through the alleyways and creates pauses in relation to the architecture, the morphology of the village and its surroundings; a journey that aims to put the visitor in touch with time, like the time that passed between those who left for the world and those who stayed, and with distance, unimaginable in that period. In the artist’s work, every single image is made from two exposures on the same sheet of photographic film and each exposure places the sun on one edge of the frame; enclosing the sky between two suns, Jones depicts simultaneity – of life in Pieve and elsewhere in the world – and distance. The sun in the sky therefore becomes the universal sign of the passage of time, the element that embodies hope between departure and return.
At the centre of the itinerary is a large image with a winter detail of the Garden of Europe dedicated to Alcide De Gasperi; vegetation expressing expectation, in which we find hope in the form of a pod full of seeds, seeds that are partly scattered and that once again position this location at the starting point of a journey.
The works, in two different formats, show us the philological point of origin, small stories of many people, the great story of a single person who influenced that of everyone.

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Exhibited works:

Benjamin Jones, To Live Inside a Second, 2023. 8 prints on aluminum, 100 x 80 cm.
On the walls through the streets of the village

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Permanent works:ㅤ

Benjamin Jones, To Live Inside a Second, 2023. Print on aluminum. 591 x 300 cm.
Via Alcide De Gasperi 10-22, Pieve Tesino

Benjamin Jones (Reading, UK, 1994) studied at the Bath School of Art and Design and currently lives and works in London. Recent exhibitions include: The Actual Life of a Thought (solo), LOOM Gallery, Milano (IT, 2023); Between Our Sense of Then and of Today (solo), Michael Pennie Gallery, Bath (UK, 2022); Post No Bills (doppia personale con Stephan Keppel), The Koppel Project Hive, Londra (UK, 2022); Residency 4: Benjamin Jones and Ilektra Maipa, Gonzo Unit, Salonicco (GR, 2022); Passive Aggressive (double solo with Robert Luzar), 36 Gallery, Newcastle (UK, 2021); Something, Like Nothing, Happens Anywhere (solo), Camera Austria, Graz (AT, 2021); 4 frogs, DUM Project Space, Ljubljana (SI, 2021); Analogue Processes (solo), Antonini, Milano (IT, 2020); Glashaus (doppia personale con Alexandra Gschiel), Schaumbad - Freies Atelierhaus, Graz (AT, 2019).
In 2016 and 2017 he was a graduate fellow at Spike Island, Bristol, and his work has been published in Photomonitor, Tall Poppy Press, Camera Austria and other art magazines.