The Identity of the Identity

Antonio Irre Catalano

look at me
from my eyes
tasting my taste
the world is leaking mine

one plus one plus one
many many times
a net of crochet
blurring the borders
into one single sight

none is alone
everybody is aside 
where does the gaze end
where does the body end
squeezed and wide

we do like words
drawers of time
which slip through hands
mine and hers
ours and theirs

millions of hands
billions of eyes

look at your hand
can you recognize?
fingers moving like spiders
building invisible nets
likewise

The Science

The poem is an exploration of the concepts of stigmergy, complex systems, and the nature of consciousness through the interplay of interconnected agents. It invites the reader to perceive the world through an intimate, shared experience, resonating with the idea of emergent properties, and highlighting how collective behaviors arise from simple local interactions. Stigmergy, a mechanism of indirect coordination through local environmental cues, illustrates how actions of agents (like ants building a colony) can lead to self-organization and complexity without central control. These elements illuminate how intelligence and order can emerge from decentralized connections, revealing the profound relationship between body, mind, and our shared world. 

Complex systems consist of interconnected components whose interactions give rise to dynamic behaviors and patterns that cannot be predicted from the individual parts alone. This aligns with the concept of Emergent properties where the collective behavior of a system emerges from simple rules applied at the individual level. Additionally, Embodied Cognition emphasizes that our understanding and interaction with the world are rooted in our physical experiences and bodily movements, suggesting that cognition is not just a mental process but is deeply intertwined with our physicality and environment, reflecting a holistic approach to reality that can be revealed only by changing our point of view and distancing ourselves from everyday experiences.

The Poet

Antonio Irre Catalano (he/him) Artist, independent researcher and cultural designer, specializes in site-specific and audience-specific art practices. He is a performer and author of visual works, poems and theater. As a cultural designer, he works on Public Art and Relational Art projects. As a researcher, his current focus is a project between Art and Science on plants and human-plant communication. His works have been presented at the Venice Biennale, Campo Base Milan, Supermarket Art Fair Stockholm, MACRO Rome. His educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Master’s degree in Bioethics, Master’s degree in Cognitive Systems and Interactive Media.

Next poem: The Sea Sponge by Rachel Raddock