Scarabeo (EN)

In 2023, Samuel Herzog developed a novel concept for mapping the Sequerciani-the area surrounding the winery of the same name in southern Tuscany. He constructed a device that allowed him to translate the movements of a beetle into movements of his own body. With the help of this «compass», he let himself be guided by twenty local Scarabaeinae beetles to twenty different points in the garden. At each location, he sat for an hour, always with the sun at his back. He took a photo of the view and noted down what he experienced. The aim of this undertaking was to create a description of the Sequerciani whose character was significantly shaped by the landscape itself. For it was non-human nature that led the artist to the various perspectives of the garden, which he then attempted to interpret using human means. Since it was the beetles who determined where Herzog would pull out his pencil-and thus, in a sense, wrote with him-he called the project Scarabeografia. This publication was created during Samuel Herzog's residency as part of the art project «Sequerciani Arte Clima» of the Fondazione Sequerciani Arte Terra Clima, 2023.The content of this book was first published in 2024 by Edizioni Periferia.