Marzarama

Lisa Anne Auerbach and Aleksandra Mir propose to stage a live action of repairing the broken noses, fingers and hands of various antique sculptures -- with Marzipan.

Our project merges a study of the beauty ideals of Antiquity, with contemporary trends led by the California plastic surgery industry; the current concern and debate surrounding the restoration and preservation of the former, and how this engagement with history informs and advances the latter.

Marzipan (Martorana) is a traditional medium for building small temporary sculptures that can be eaten, a cherished and familiar medium of southern Italian folklore.

The plasticity of the marzipan allows for an exciting opportunity to create fantastic noses to compliment broken faces or extended fingers to amputated hands. As an international team descending on the vandalized statues, we will act as 'Doctors without borders'; as sculptors we will develop new forms maybe so far unfamiliar to the human species, and as amateur archeolgists, we look to the past to make sense of our present.

With just a nibble, our work will be gone.

Aleksandra Mir / Lisa Anne Auerbach, Palermo - Los Angeles, Summer 2007 - ongoing.