Simona Žemaitytė
https://doi.org/10.60152/u4uqfa2h
Abstract: As an artist-researcher, at this conference, I share a screen work focusing on the supervolcano in Southern Italy known as the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei). The studies of this volcano have been at the center of my postdoctoral art-based research at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. A volcanic caldera of Phlegrean Fields, characterized by an ongoing bradyseismic crisis, experiences slow ground uplift and subsidence accompanied by seismic activity. It is also one of the most densely populated areas near the city of Naples, hosting over half a million people. The caldera features several notable craters, including Lake Averno- believed by the Romans to be the entrance to the Underworld (Hades), active vulcano Solfatara, naturalistic oasis of Astroni, and many others. The Phlegrean Fields caldera is rich not only in natural wonders – thermal waters, craters, natural oasis, but also legends and historical heritage. Here lies a sunken city of Baia, the Amphitheater of Flavio, and the market columns falsely called Tempio di Serapide, which are natural “meters” of bradyseism. In a multidisciplinary framework of researching via art making, science, history, architecture, and geology merge. The video explores the landscape as a body and the body as a landscape through choreography and movement of the camera. Through dialogue with residents of Pozzuoli and Naples, as well as volcanology scientists, this work aims to deepen the understanding of what it means to live intimately with the challenges posed by bradyseism.
Keywords: Campi Flegrei, volcanoes, bradysism, art, dance
How to cite this Paper (Harvard referencing style):
Žemaitytė, S. (2025) ‘Dancing Landscapes of the Phlegran Fields‘, in R. Bogdanović (ed.) On Architecture — Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines, Proceedings. Belgrade, Serbia: STRAND, pp. 203–211.
See publication On Architecture (2025) Conference Proceedings