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Everyday Objects - My Roman Quarantine
I traveled to Rome this past May for a two week artist residency at the American Academy of Rome. While there, my artistic intentions would be twofold; I would bring a suitcase full of painting gear (paints, brushes, art materials, etc.), plus I also had the idea for a second, totally different project that involved photography.
In the weeks before leaving I had become interested in a very small device that printed Polaroid style photos from an iPhone. It was the size of a hardcover book and weighed less than a pound. So although my primary intention was to continue painting, I would also experiment with photos printed from this new little gadget that arrived just days before my flight. As my departure date approached I started to feel not well. I had had a few colds or flus during Covid, but I had actually never gotten Covid-19. This time I felt worse, a lot worse, and as I got on the plane I was coughing like a madman and thinking I’m sure I’m positive this time. I even considered for a second getting out of the check-in line at JFK to test myself before boarding.
I landed in Rome on May 16th and went directly to the Academy where they had Covid testing that afternoon. I was totally wrecked from a night of relentless coughing and very little sleep. Upon arrival I went directly to the apartment and passed out cold. I slept through the 4pm campus tour and weekly Covid testing. The next day, with a home test I had, I tested positive- I officially had Covid. I wasn’t surprised but I was convinced if I told the administration at the Academy that the Carabinieri (Italian police) would show up and would cart me off to some distant government sanctioned prison-like Covid hotel. Needing some sound advice I started to make calls. I made a lot of calls. I called my friends around Rome, as well as friends and family in the States. Eventually I was convinced that that would not be the case. I would not be chained and shacked in some far off Covid prison. I needed to come clean and tell the Academy of my condition.
The next day, it seems, they were already on to me. The Academy emailed me, realizing my absence from the weekly Covid test, the group meals and the campus orientation tour that I had missed. I waited another day before I fessed up, and was then officially tested by the campus doctor and started my Covid quarantine. Luckily I had paid for a large, sunny, three bedroom with a small but modern kitchen.
The apartment had endless windows and views of the Academy’s verdant campus. I was told I would be receiving delicious Italian meals delivered twice a day, with vegetables grown right there in the campus gardens. Side note: the menus and meals at the Academy are designed and prepared by Alice Waters’ team of California “farm to table” fame.
The first days of quarantine I was pretty ill and had very little interest in anything but sleeping. Somewhere around day four I started to wonder how I could salvage my residency and wondered if there was another way to creatively make use of my time while basically locked in the apartment for what would most likely be the next ten days. I eventually opened up the suitcase of my studio art supplies. Instead I went directly for the small color printer. I was curious, and with not a lot of energy began to use my iPhone to photograph things around the apartment. Slowly but surely I began to get excited about the interesting and abstract images I was capturing by shooting everyday objects I found around the apartment, from doorknobs and toasters to apples and toilet seat covers. I had found a narrative, a theme, something that excited me and made sense creatively. Something I was able to accomplish with the limited energy I found myself with.
Over the course of the next 10 days I captured more than 100 interesting abstract images of household objects within the apartment and began to see a real body of work coming together, then the very last day I was allowed out of quarantine and was able to capture some images around the Academy campus. The images, shown here in my studio, form the basis and potential jumping off point for new ideas and inspirations.
Production notes: all images were captured on an iPhone 12 Pro. No filters. No photoshop or digital manipulation has been used. Images were printed directly from the standard iPhone photo app to the Canon mini color printer.
—Rodney D'Urso, New York Oct. 2022