Situated at the Fountain of Neptune in Florence, Italy, Under the Foot of Neptune looks towards the surrounding flood lights that illuminate the Fountain of Neptune. Emblematic of the relationship between myth and materiality, the fountain depicts the Roman sea god Neptune and his retinue of sea creatures. The sea god’s power was believed to be embodied in the waves and currents of the ocean; a source of life, power, and renewal, and a symbol of divine presence and intervention.

The relationship between carved stone and light plays a significant role in the representation of divine power; carvings construct a tangible representation of the force and presence of the divine. Fountains enhance these ideas through the addition of the shimmer and movement of water, generating material, visual, and audial cues that signal the transcendental nature of divinity.

Depictions of the divine, such as those presented in the Fountain of Neptune, are, however, not without limitation. Under the Foot of Neptune looks back onto the floodlights that illuminate the fountain, presenting them as stylised stars, pointing towards the constructed nature of the symbolic function of the fountain; the depiction of the divine is not a pure, natural phenomenon, but rather a product of human construction and interpretation.

The visuals are overlaid with the constructed political rhetoric of war within the context of Vladimir Putin’s 2022 threats of nuclear strikes against Ukraine. The audio presents the nature of veiled language in its divine, prophetic status in which life, power and renewal coexist in a precarious state.