Fantasies of the Sea — Agnes Questionmark (Agnes?)

EPISODE 2 — SEASON I · Soundwalk Collective · LOVOTIC-X

With Fantasies of the Sea, FOROF and Soundwalk Collective presented the second Episode of the LOVOTIC-X programme, conceived in dialogue with the installation LOVOTIC. The performance by Agnes Questionmark (Agnes?) guided the audience through an immersive journey exploring the origin of human existence on Earth and its deep connection with the sea, while simultaneously questioning the fluidity of gender and identity.

Pelagic mythology and hybrid body

Structured across a video projection, a ceramic sculpture and a live performance, Fantasies of the Sea narrates the emergence of an aquatic mythology: a hybrid, genderless creature, suspended between human and cephalopod, between terrestrial body and pelagic dimension. Water becomes the original matrix, a space of continuous transformation and a device through which to rethink evolution.

Suggested photo: view of the vertical aquarium with the ceramic sculpture.

“A fluid creature, a liquid entity”

After nearly a year of estrogen injections and testosterone suppression, the artist recounts an ongoing metamorphosis: the birth of Agnes as a “new species,” a genderless being, half human and half cephalopod, a multicellular and symbiotic organism capable of multiplying itself. A fluid body that “constantly destroys itself to give life to something undefined,” where destruction and death become necessary conditions for an endless evolutionary process.

Suggested photo: Agnes immersed in the vertical aquarium, with lighting enhancing the aquatic dimension.

Dialogue with LOVOTIC-X

As part of the LOVOTIC-X programme curated by Soundwalk Collective, the Episode expands reflections on the relationship between humans, technology and future imaginaries. While LOVOTIC investigates emotional and sensual relationships between humans and robots, Fantasies of the Sea shifts the focus toward the sea as a shared origin and a space of resistance to fixed categories of sex, identity and species, suggesting a fluid genealogy of bodies and desires.

Suggested photo: overall view of the archaeological space with video projection and audience presence.

Biography — Agnes Questionmark (Agnes?)

Agnes Questionmark (Agnes?) (1995) was born in Rome and lives in London. Graduated in Fine Art from the Camberwell College of Arts in 2018, the artist began working with photography and sculpture before focusing on performance as a tool to explore the relationship between humans and nature. Recent projects include the solo exhibition TRANSGENESIS (The Orange Garden, in collaboration with Harlesden High Street and Underground Flower, London), a special performance at Teatro Lliure (Barcelona), the duo exhibition Tides In The Body at Lychee One (London), and the performance Il Cappello del Polpo at Palazzo Massimo (Rome).

The artist took part in the Midwater Residency on the island of Poros (Greece) in collaboration with Studio Forlane, and was invited to exhibit in the Ancient City of Cosa for the second chapter of HYPERMAREMMA, The Submerged City (Ansedonia). In 2017, the artist received the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” Award at the Florence Biennale in the Performance Art category. In 2022, they were admitted to the MFA programme at the Pratt Institute in New York, where they were awarded a Merit Scholarship.

Suggested photo: portrait of the artist or still from one of the aquatic performances.

Conviviality

In line with FOROF’s philosophy, this Episode also concluded with a food and wine experience curated by Roscioli, conceived in dialogue with the liquid and sensory imagery of Fantasies of the Sea.

Suggested photo: convivial moment with the audience within FOROF spaces.