The Disembodied Magic Body. Situating the Self and its Clone in Laurie Anderson’s "Dal Vivo"

The exhibition project "Dal Vivo", conceived by Laurie Anderson and Germano Celant in 1998 for Fondazione Prada in Milan, explores the relationship between the body, its translation into image and the related perception. The project features Santino Stefanini, incarcerated in San Vittore prison, whose presence is simulated through video transmission, disrupting temporal linearity and awakening consciousness. It invites reconsideration of unconventional existences, rather than focusing on prison conditions. Through theatrical, narrative and performative viewpoints, this paper aims at questioning the nature of art and life in a shared experiential space through the definition of a dialectical identity.