"Sulla Morte Senza Esagerare" is a puppet animation short film that I made in 2017 as part of my thesis for my Bachelor of Arts in Sculpture, at RUFA Rome University of Fine Arts.

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The inspiration for this project was born during my first year at RUFA, 2013, when for the engraving course we were told to create some illustrations inspired by some Wislawa Szymborska poems. One of these struck me particularly: 

 

On death without exaggeration - Wislawa Szymborska

"It can't take a joke,
find a star, make a bridge.
It knows nothing about weaving, mining, farming,
building ships, or baking cakes.

In our planning for tomorrow,
it has the final word,
which is always beside the point.

It can't even get the things done
that are part of its trade:
dig a grave,
make a coffin,
clean up after itself.

Preoccupied with killing,
it does the job awkwardly,
without system or skill.
As though each of us were its first kill.

Oh, it has its triumphs,
but look at its countless defeats,
missed blows,
and repeat attempts!

Sometimes it isn't strong enough
to swat a fly from the air.
Many are the caterpillars
that have outcrawled it.

All those bulbs, pods,
tentacles, fins, tracheae,
nuptial plumage, and winter fur
show that it has fallen behind
with its halfhearted work.

Ill will won't help
and even our lending a hand with wars and coups d'etat
is so far not enough.

Hearts beat inside eggs.
Babies' skeletons grow.
Seeds, hard at work, sprout their first tiny pair of leaves
and sometimes even tall trees fall away.

Whoever claims that it's omnipotent
is himself living proof
that it's not.

There's no life
that couldn't be immortal
if only for a moment.

Death
always arrives by that very moment too late.

In vain it tugs at the knob
of the invisible door.
As far as you've come
can't be undone."

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This poem, in which death is depicted like a clumsy worker, inspired me to create a character that corresponded to Szymborska's description.

So I created a series of illustrations and, in 2017, transformed them into a short film to present as my thesis film.