In the field of multimedia arts, Martino Nicoletti’s work focuses mainly on combinations of photography, experimental video, creative writing and performance. Besides photographic books and multimedia works printed with commercial publishers, presented in the “Writing” section of this site, much of his work has taken the form of artist’s books, short videos, public performances, as well as photographic works displayed in solo and collective exhibitions in Europe, Asia and US (“Bio” section).

From a visual art standpoint, Martino’s activity is largely characterized by a radically “primitivist” approach, based on the use of ultra-vintage devices and techniques (e.g. box cameras, pinhole photography, Super-8 film): beyond aesthetic aspects, this specific choice is inspired by the desire to bring the production of images within the framework of a slow and non-intrusive approach to reality.

This same option – programmatically related to a drastic limitation of control over the “photographic act” and cinematographic shooting and their outcome – also aims to lead image production toward the vast territory of the “aleatory”: an approach enabling the photographic device and even the cine-camera itself to express their own intrinsic spontaneity without any bounds or restrictions.

From the domain of certainty, therefore images come back to that one of pure “chance”, with all the risks and the possibilities which may result from this approach: a radical visual primitivism chosen as a privileged way to free the gaze and make possible the emergence of inner landscapes.

A part of the creative work of Martino is devoted to the creation of art-works in the form of refined books, printed in a limited edition.

With a particular predilection for the Super-8 visual media, Martino’s shorts are poetic visual narrations on the subtle frontier separating the visible and the dream, the real and the surreal.

A selection of artistic works

In the field of musical production, Martino Nicoletti (infos.martino@gmail.com), in collaboration with the composer and sound engineer Roberto Passuti (roberto.passutigmail.com), has in the last ten years created two different musical projects:

• The independent label and musical group STENOPEICA, essentially dedicated to multimedia productions and contemporary experimental music.

• The SEEDS OF SOUND IN THE AUTUMN OF POWER collection, devoted to ethnic music and the dissemination of musical heritage, mainly connected with the Himalayan area and South Asia. Thanks to a wide-ranging archive of sound recordings made directly by Martino Nicoletti in the field, the collection aims at presenting little-known sacred music traditions, today under high risk of extinction. The CD-books and CDs in this collection, created thanks to rigorous preliminary research work, are characterised by high sound quality and great attention to the aesthetic dimension of the products, often accompanied by a large assortment of introductory texts and an ample selection of photographic images.