Letter from Ernesta Thot - curatorial correspondence on esotericism, magic and alchemy in art

Abstract

The aim of this article is to introduce the figure of Ernesta Thot. She is the protagonist of a research and curatorial project that has been ongoing since 2020. It involves the successive construction and reconstruction of Ernesta Thot’s life, but also, through her character, an exploration of the relationship of modern and contemporary art to romantic, alchemical, esoteric and magical traditions. The project, whose protagonist is Ernesta Thot, is structured around ideas of art‑based research. It is also an attempt to answer the question of how to build and use fiction, imagination and confabulation, but one that draws on the reality around us, in the construction and telling of art history? To date, three projects have been published on the life of Ernesta Thot: a residual biography, a fable and a visual‑textual collage about the tarot. The article presented here, together with the accompanying film by artist Yana Maroz, is the next stage of this project. This time its aim is to encourage readers to establish a letter‑writing relationship with Ernesta Thot and to participate in the construction of a story about her.

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