Alessandro Mercuri, born in 1973, studied philosophy in France and cinema in the United States at Calarts (M.F.A. in live action). He lives and works in Paris.
He directed the documentary Alien American (2001), portrait of a woman claiming to come from outer space. Film critic Holly Willis wrote in L.A. Weekly : «Mercuri likes to assert that the video is neither a “fake documentary nor a real fiction”, which neatly summarizes the project’s unsettling view of the dichotomy between the real world and its multiple representations.»
He published in 2008 at the Editions Léo Scheer a literary essay, entitled Kafka Cola, sans pitié ni sucre ajouté (without pity nor added sugar).
French novellist Philippe Sollers wrote in the press : «Who is Alessandro Mercuri ? I do not know. Nevertheless, he just wrote a sparkling little book. Kafka Cola, variations inspired by the famous sentence of former boss of TF1 (French TV channel): “What we sell to Coca-Cola is available human brain time” What is this new brain substance and where will it lead us ? You’ll see.»
Alessandro Mercuri had some texts published in the French and American journals for literature L’infini (Éditions Gallimard, 2010), Rouge-Déclic (2010) and Revolving Floor (2009).
Mondo kawaii @..@, an essay on the cartoon series Happy Tree Friends was published in Écrivains en Série, saison 2 (Éditions Léo Scheer, collection Laureli, 2010).
His new essay, a counter-cultural studies piece, entitled Peeping Tom has been published in June 2011 (Éditions Léo Scheer).
He’s also writing an essay on Moses and Don Quichotte and a detective story, Pornobello, which takes place in the porn movie industry.
Peeping Tom is the name of his blog.
Links to his English writings :
- Infinity minus One
- O-void
© Haijun Park