On Your Own Time
online project


In the winter of 1998, Italian artist Sabrina Mezzaqui spent 3 months in isolation in Pantelleria, a small island in the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, across from Tunisia. She lived in a large isolated house and tried to imagine, in solitude, the sense of every day passing. The sentences featured in this on-line project are taken from the diary that she kept during her experience.  This project attempts to bring the themes of P.S.1's exhibition On Your Own Time into cyberspace.

While On Your Own Time was on view (October 10, 1999 through January 2nd, 2000), a new sentence was added to this page every day.

This system mirrors the sense of daily renewal and evolving thought that is present in Mezzaqui's work and in the work of the exhibition in general. This structure also suggests a need for visitors to make repeated visits to the web site, thus extending their experience of the site (and of the exhibition) over time. Furthermore, the artist's isolation on the island perhaps manifests itself on-line as the viewer's isolation in browsing the internet and in intertacting with computers. The translations of the sentences are also an important component of the project: Mezzaqui translates her phrases from Italian to English herself. The difficulty she faced in translating underlines the difficulty of communication in general: we are in fact all immersed in an experience of solitude through time.


1.  spedire una lettera con dentro fiori rosa
1.  to send a letter with pink flowers inside

2.  pomeriggio al sole leggendo il nuovo libro
2.  afternoon in the sun reading the new book

3.  provare a registrare il silenzio del tramonto
3.  trying to record the sunset's silence

4.  al tramonto ha ricominciato a piovere
4.  at sunset it has begun to rain again

5.  i bambini che si inventano un amico di fantasia
con cui parlare e giocare
5.  children that invent a fantastic friend to talk
and to play

6.  dopo non riuscire più a dormire
6.  after you can't sleep anymore

7.  avvertire un senso di invasione
7.  to feel a sense of invasion

8.  le onde del mare che si infrangono a riva
8.  the sea-waves that break against the shore

9.  le nuvole che volano veloci nel cielo
9.  the clouds that fly fast in the sky

10.  brutto tempo, piccolo stato confusionale
10.  bad weather, little confused mood

11. sorridendo tra sè e sè
11. self-smiling

12. brindisi alla luna piena
12. to drink a toast to the full-moon

13. annaffiando le piante: profumo di terra bagnata
13. watering the plants: scent of wet ground

14. fuori dal mondo
14. out of the world

15. quando sembra proprio vero-vero
15. when it looks just true-true

16. aver paura di tutto ciò che è vivo
16. to have fear of everything that is alive

17. essere stanca di avere paura
17. to be tired of having fear

18. di fronte al mare
18. in front of the sea

19. bagnandosi la faccia con acqua di mare
19. to get your face wet with sea-water

20. sdraiata vestita sugli scogli
20. lay down, dressed, on the rocks

21. ritrovarsi a dirsi ad alta voce: "Coraggio!"
21. to find oneself saying in a loud voice: "Courage!"

22. cambiare colore in viso
22. to change colour in your face

23. la musica quando si è un pò tristi fa piangere
23. when you are a little sad music makes you to cry

24. non c'è proprio nessuno
24. there is really nobody

25. salire un attimo sul tetto a guardarsi intorno
25. to go up the roof a moment and to look around

26. sentire il ticchettio dell'orologio, il rumore del frigorifero e il vento
26. to hear the clock-ticking, the fridge noise and the wind

27. volersi bene è la cosa più difficile che c'è al mondo
27. self-love is the most difficult thing there is in the world

28. sul tetto ad affogare nel nero pieno-pieno di stelle
28. on the roof to drown in the full-full black of stars

29. esagerare sempre
29. to exaggerate always

30. non ricordare cosa si stava sognando
30. to not remember what you were dreaming of

31. rimanerci male
31. to be disappointed

32. sembrava ci fosse qualcuno dietro gli alberi nel buio
32. it looked like there was someone behind the trees in the darkness

33. voler essere rincuorata
33. wishing to be reassured

34. essere qui sola
34. to be here alone

35. voler avere qualche consiglio sul da farsi
35. wishing to have some advice about what to do

36. non poter uscire perchè si ha paura
36. not to be able to go out because of fear

37. è stata una giornata in completa solitudine
37. it has been a day in complete solitude

38. stanno sbocciando altre rose
38. other roses are opening

39. malinconia
39. melancholy

40. radio tunisi e luce di candela
40. tunisi radio and candle-light

41. alzare il volume della radio e bere una birra
41. raising the radio-volume and drinking a beer

42. non riuscire a prendere a sonno
42. not being able to fall asleep

43. ballare, ma vergognarsi come se qualcuno guardasse
43. dancing, but ashamed as if someone was looking

44. dovere sforzarsi
44. to have to strive

45. ascoltare una bella canzone
45. to listen to a nice song

46. seduta per terra in un angolo della casa
46. sitting on the floor in a corner of the house

47. dopo il temporale notturno, svegliarsi col sole
47. after the night storm, to wake up with the sun

48. aspettare della posta che non arriva
48. waiting some mail that doesn't arrive

49. sperando che suoni il telefono
49. wishing the telephone rings

50. ascoltare la vocina del proprio intuito
50. to listen to the low voice of your own intuition

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