Mircea Cantor

Mircea Cantor’s work often confronts viewers with situations charged with tension, within which no action, response or possible significance is unambiguous. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (Thus Passes the Glory of the World), 2012, presents a group of people who, kneeling in a circle, accept a burning fuse. The flame passes quickly from one person to another, to finally burn out before the eyes of a woman who seems to be performing a mysterious ritual. Secular yet also vaguely religious, the action described by the work does not seem to pertain to any specific place or time, but rather seems destined to an eternal repetition. Part of a group of works inspired by the city of Rome and by some of its religious symbols, the film takes its title from the Latin phrase that is addressed to every new Pontiff by an officiant, while the latter lights some flax resting on a staff.
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