Thursday, November 5, 2009
Life At a Slower Pace in Tuscany
International Correspondent for ‘Conversations on the Road’ Jeremiah Tittle speaks with ‘flat film’ multimedia artist Douglas Gayeton about his life, his art, his new book SLOW: Life in a Tuscan Town, and the inspiration behind it all. While living in Tuscany for several years, Gayeton took millions of photographs. As is the case with many an artist, he revisited his work with a new perspective after years of creating documentaries for National Geographic and PBS. Using a technique closely resembling collage melding together photographs from separate times to view one landscape, Gayeton was able to embody not only the element of time in his pieces, but also culture, tradition, and storytelling as he began writing on the photographs explaining anecdotes and documenting the endangerment of dwindling traditions.
Including a preface by the founder of the Slow Food Movement himself, Carlo Petrini, and an introduction by Alice Waters, Gayeton’s book (which is really an art show shrunk down to fit on your coffee table) takes you back in time, but more to another place that embraces the way it was done for the last 1000 years, whether the governing body of the day appreciates that tradition or not. In the spirit and the pace of life which the Slow Food Movement and Gayeton espouse, I’d say take your time in getting the book at www.WelcomeBooks.com/SLOW or try some Laloo’s Goat Milk Ice Cream from Gayeton’s farm in Petaluma, California. In the spirit and blurry pace of our lives, don’t wait past Black Friday to order this treasure of a book.
