donato piccolo
Pi cc o l o ’s stu d i o i n Br o o k l yn , N e w Yo r k 2 0 1 3 , p h o to Xi a o We i C h e n
The Body in the Machine
The way to Donato Piccolo’s studio leads over the winding, serpentine streets of a desolate industrial district in the north of Rome. It is located within view of the large construction site of the new Tiburtina train station, behind high walls and an iron gate. Buzzing away on the neighboring property are the transformers of a high tension tower. In the evening darkness, at the center of the courtyard, u n d e r a g r e y ti n r o o f a n d n e xt to th e r e m n a n ts o f a g u tte d ca r i s w h e r e I e n coutered the first work of the artist: a large glass case illuminated from within b y fo u r n e o n tu b e s w i th a fi n g e r d e e p p o o l o f w a te r a t th e b o tto m ( I H o p e Im p l u vium, 2009). The water is sprayed onto the inner sides of the glass case by means of pumps and several hoses, runs down the panes and then circulates through the pumping system again. From two loudspeakers, one hears the splashing, hissing, squelching sounds of this process. The sound is picked up by microphones on the outsides of the panes and relayed to an amplifier without any further acoustic transformation. The simple increase in volume creates a surreal, macroscopic effect that links the observer with the dynamic processes going on inside the installation in a truly dissociativeway. On the one hand, the spectator is physically separated from the wetness circulating inside by the glass panes, yet at the same time, he is spatially surrounded by the unnaturally trenchant sounds that convey an immediate proximity. This profoundly physical feeling of dissociation will return somewhat later to Donato Piccolo’s studio, where three of his Hurricanes were constructed,works whichhave earned him international recognition in recent years. The first modelin this series of sculptures that are practically identical in structure was createdmafter a longer test phase in 2007. Raging inside of these man-sized glass cases is a storm of water vapor driven by ventilators. The water vapor is created by an ultrasonic fog nebulizer that is also used in inhalation devices and which, through the high freq u e n c y o s c i l l a tions of a membrane, vaporizes the water at the bottom of the case into tiny weightless particles. A halogen spotlight atached to the top side of the glass case effectively illuminates the scene, focusing attention on the whirl of steam. By means of twomicrophones on the outer sides, the sound from the inside is transmitted to loudspeakers. The sounds, with the exceptionof the soft splashing on the surface of the water, emanate from ventilators that are amplified i n to a powerful hissing noise. Particularly striking is the precision of the construction. N o p a rt i s su p e r fl u o u s: e a ch fu l fi l l s a e sth e ti c a s w e l l a s syste m - r e l e va n t functions. This also includes the spotlight, whose light not only illuminates the water fog, but, through its heat, causes it to circulate inside.
The element of a somewhat domesticated natural phenomenon staged under l a b o r a t o r y c o n d i t i o n s c a n n o t b e i g n o r e d i n D o n a t o P i c c o l o ’s s c u l p t u r e s . Th e i r a e s th e ti c i s n o t n u r tu r e d b y th e d r a m a o f s e e m i n g l y u n l e a sh e d forces of nature. It is a beguiling, quiet scenario composed of the dance-like movements of air oscillating between the order of a steady, circular rotation and cloud-like chaos, and the flickering light, filtered through the water fog, which, together with the noise of the wind trapped inside the chamber, fills the entire space. In this constellation, th e w a te r v a p o r, i .e ., fo g , s h o w s i tse l f to b e a m a te r i a l fo r m e d b y th e a r ti st, s o m e thing that does not deny its ephemeral quality, but rather, brings precisely this to expression. Donato Piccolo’s aesthetic-technical occupation with natural phenomena invokes a tradition that came to full fruition in the evocative nature painting of the Romantics and which celebrates the sublime beauty of physical phenomena. In this sense, an artist such as Olafur Eliasson, who thrilled an audience of millions i n 2 0 0 3 w i t h his
installation
The
We a t h e r P r o j e c t i n t h e tu r b i n e h a l l o f th e Ta te M o d ern in London, is also a Romantic. In the same way that Caspar David Friedrich places his Monk by the Sea from 1808-10 before a stormy wall of clouds so that viewed from behind, he functions as a substitute for the observer, today’s audience
with
its
s e n s o rium is the r e a l
“Reversible Sound I-III” (2010) [installation view] aluminium, microphone, magnets, copper, amplifier, fiberglass, galvanized iron,speaker. 32x18x105 cm each, photo Thomas Nitz Minimal elements generate a different sound coming from each side and reproducing a sound that, in mathematics, is defined “positive feedback”
fo c u s o f Ol a fu r E l i a s son’s installations. Donato Piccolo, too, aims for the transformation of a natural phenomenon into an aesthetic event that ultimately takes place in the brain of the observer. The staged storm captured in the vertical glass chamber at first references only the technical feasibility of such an operati o n . It i s th e i m a g i n a tion of the observer that first connects what is wit nessed in front of th e a r t w o r k w i t h h i s o w n e x p e r i e n c e s o f n a t u r e a n d t h u s c a l l s f o r t h i t s a e s th e ti c d i m e n s i o n . A n d th e w e a th e r i s p r e ci se l y th a t w h i ch p re s e n ts i ts e l f h e r e a s a u n i ve r sa l i n d i c a to r o f e xp e r i e n ce . We a th e r i s o n e o f th e fe w p h e nomena that can still, even in big cities, let us feel the power of nature. The fundamentally interactive approach of Donato Piccolo’s art also finds expression in his new sound sculptures, Reversible Sound I-III. These function according to th e p ri n ci p l e o f a co u sti c fe e d back and can be controlled by visitors with the aid of a microphone held at a certain distance, like an instrument used to generate spherical sounds. In so doing, one’s own body comes into play, i.e., the movements
of the hand and arms that shift around the box mounted on stilts to explore its sonic aura. Also in the sculpture Dream Machine from 2010, the observer plays a n i m p o r ta n t r o l e . Th e cl u m s y fi r st i m p r e ss i o n o f th e o b j e ct - w h i c h , w i th i t s c y l i n der supported by four legs on wheels, recalls a robot from a 1 9 5 0 s te l e vision series - is a contrast to the graceful clouds that rise from its blue illuminated center and o c c a s i o n a l l y t a k e o n t h e f o r m o f s m o k e r i n g s . The size of these clouds is, meanwhile, determined by the size and silhouette of the spectators sta n d i n g b e fo r e th e w o r k a n d w h i ch th e m a ch i n e d e t e c t s b y m e a n s o f a v i s u a l s e n s o r. O n e c a n t h u s d i s c e r n a m e t a p h o r i c a l l i k e ness of one’s own body formed from smoke which, after a short time, vanishes again. The most elaborate work in the exhibition
is
an
installation
comprised of seven glass v e s sels mounted on stands, each of which contains its own circulating
water
cycle
(Reversibility of 7 Unstable Elements, 2010). The differently shaped glasses are attached by tubes to pumps that spray w a t e r a t t h e i n s i d e o f
R e v e r s ibility of 7 U ns ta ble Ele m e nts (2 0 1 0 ) glass, pvc, electric pumps, microphones, electrical system, timer, iron, water, audio system. 7 objects, each of 32x18x105 cm, Photo by Angelo Sabatiello
th e v e ssels at fixed intervals. This in turn creates a sound whose pitch results from the acoustic resonance of the glass. Donato Piccolo has formed the vessels in such a way that they correspond to the seven-step s c a l e o f a n o c t a v e . Tw o c o m posers, Giacomo Del Colle Lauri Volpi and Marco Cucco, have written a work for this curious instrument, which, by means of time switches that temporarily set the pumps in action, cause it to play autonomously. The forms of the vessels, elaborately hand crafted by a glass blower, were modulated with the aid of a computer program and in this process, h a ve ta ke n o n m o r e r a n d o m a n d , a s th e a r ti s t e m p h a si ze s , o r g a n i c fo r m s th a t re call, for example, a heart or lungs. In fact, with the circulating water, the strong association with processes that have to do with human organs and various b o d i l y fl u i d s b e co m e a p p a r e n t. Bo th th e ve sse l s o u tfi tte d w i th tu b e s a n d th e l a b oratory-standard glass sleeves that fix the containers to the steel stands clearly present medicinal-biological references to the observer and, at first glance, seem foreign to thecustomary understanding sound or music.1 Apart from the sound that penetrates through to the outside, Piccolo’s kinetic sculptures deal with closed systems that are driven only by electricity. The moment of a return to the original state, something that is always possible – the rev e rs i b i l i ty – i s a r e curring motive in his creative work, as also invoked in the titles of the pieces. This is what distinguishes machines from biological systems, whose path fr o m l i fe to d e a th i s n o t r e ve rsi b l e , ye t th i s i s e xa ctl y w h e re a re ve a l i n g p e rsp e c tive on the d e v e l o p me n t o f D o n a to P i c co l o ’s w o rk s o f re ce n t y e a rs
c a n b e g a i n e d . H i s i n te n sive occupation with the human body was the result of a car accident that theartist had in 2003 and in whose aftermath he lay for several weeks in a hospital with serious fractures. The work that followed, to overcome a n e xi ste n ti a l tr a u m a , a s i t w e r e , w a s w i th m a n n e q u i n - l i ke d u m m i e s th a t w e r e i m printedwith different b o d y p a r t s a n d l a y e r e d i n b i g h e a p s ( P r o g e t t o O r g , 2 0 0 5 ) . L a te r o n c a m e i l l u str a tions of heads representing the interior of the body as in an x-ray image, in which the organs are in completedisarray. The large sheets of paper are backed with plexiglass behind which LED text shines through at certain p l a c e s . P i c c o l o n a m e d t h e s e r i e s W ö r t e r ( Wo r d s , 2 0 0 6 ) w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o th e Ge r man doctor and poet, Gottfried Benn. A second series was created atthe computer and followed the same principle as with large C-prints lit from behind that are backed with thin aluminum plates For
the
large
exhibition
project that came next for the Syrian Pavilion at the Ve n i c e
Biennale,
P i c colo
worked with casts of his own body for a series o f f i g u r e s p a i n t e d i n m o n o chrome. In place of a head, two of them s u p port a square glass case p a r tially filled with water. At the center of the glass case is an egg fixed to a sleeve and on the b o ttom, as in the later hurricane sculptures,
an
ultrasonic
n e b u lizer is at work. Here, howe v e r, t h e w a t e r v a p o r t h a t i s c r e ated serves to condense the
Tr ipt y c h f or H e a de a c he 2 0 0 7 5 2 m a B e nna l of Ve nic e , A r a bia n Pa v ilion fiberglass, glass, eggs, nebulizator ultrasound, water, iron, pyrex, dim. 180cm each, Photo by Beatriz Susana Soriano
atmosphere inside of the case, which the egg, as a basic organic form and metaphor for life, resists. “Resistance is Existence”, is the artist’s terse comment on this work, which he had already constructed as a prototype in 2005 without, at that point in time, having thought of a connection to the figurative sculptures which h e e x p re s s i v e l y ti tl e d Ma l d i te sta (H e a d a ch e ). In 2 0 0 7 , d u ri n g th e c o u r se o f c o n structing additional glass pressure tanks, the artis began to concentrate on physical and meteorological phenomena, which would then lead to the creation of the hurricane sculptures. At this point, the artist’s own self-image also started to c h a n g e . A sk e d to n a me h i s o cc u p a ti o n to d a y, h e w o u l d mo r e l i ke l y re sp o n d “ a l chemist”, in reference to the origins of an episteme where science and art were still in harmo accord. Donato Piccolo’s path from human body to kinetic machine did not, by any means, happen erratically. On the contrary, his most recent works a re s ti l l i n fo rm e d b y th i s d e ve l o p me n t. Th e b o d y co n ti n u e s to b e th e fo cu s o f P i c colo’s artistic thinking. From this premise, what stands out, among other
things, is the anthropomorphic form of the hurricane cases with their human size, and the light source at eye level. The water and its steam-formed circulation also acquires a different field of association if one turns his point of view fr o m meteorology to visceral domains where bodily fluids are subjected to ch e m i cal-biological processes. Even the glass wall can be associated with the x-ray image of the inside of a body by drawing on knowledge of the earlier Wörter series. The new dimension that has been added to Piccolo’s works since last year, that of transmitting sounds from the inside, underlines this way of reading the sculptures. Not only is the body of the observer more clearly integrated into the space and even more of his senses addressed, it’s also about the tendency of overcoming the transparent glass membrane that separates the outside from t h e i n s i d e w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e a c o u s t i c d i s s o c i a t i o n d e s c r i b e d e a r l i e r. D o n a t o P i c colo’s kinetic sound sculptures are technical adaptationsof the human body and informed by metaphors of its inner soulfulness.
Marc Wellmann, Berlin 2010
Pr o j e c t d ra w i n g ’s s p a c e i n e x h i b i ti o n a t M a z zo l i Ga l e r i e Be r l i n
mechanisms of instability
“Butterfly Effect II”, drawing on paper, 170x110cm, 2012
Installation view at “Casa Romana Spoleto ” Festival dei due mondi , Spoleto 2009 Photo Ela Bialkowska
unstable reversible
recreate in large glass cases of atmospheric phenomena that become "air sculptures".
“Hurricane (on the heart)” - 2008 glass, 4 fans, nebulizator and electrical system, dim. 160x50x50cm, Photo Ela Bialkowska
A g l a s s a p p a r a tu s c o n ta i n i n g a s m a l l , a r ti fi ci a l l y r e p r o d u c e d h u r ri c a n e . Wh e n o n e d e ci d e s to s w i tc h o ff th e i n te rn a l c i r c u i t a s m a l l r a i n b o w w i l l fo r m i n fro n t o f th e s p e c ta to r ’s e ye s .
“H ur r ic a ne ( ins t a bility )� - 2 0 0 9 d e mi n e r a l i z e d w a te r, g l a s s , 4 fa n s , n e b u l i z a to r, a l o g e n l a m p a n d e l e c tr i c a l s ys te m , d i m. 1 5 0 x 4 5 x4 5 c m, R o m a n H o u se , Sp o l e to - Fe s t iv a l de i due Mondi, Spole to, Ph o to El a Bi a l k o w sk a
Ins t a lla tion v ie w (C a s a R om a na Spole t o) 2 0 0 9 , Ph o to E l a B i a l k o w s ka
“ In th e se i n s ta l l a ti o n s , th e a r ti st m a n a g e s to co n ce p tu a l l y c o m b i n e n a tu r a l a n d a r ti fi c i a l , e x ci te m e n t and e x p e r i ment a t i o n . I n f a c t , i f o n t h e o n e h a n d t h e h u r r i c a n e i s a w e a t h e r e v e n t , o n t h e o t h e r h e r e i s g e n e r a te d i n a c o n tro l l e d m a n n e r ; a l so , th e str e n g th o f th e p o te n ti a l l y d e s tr u cti ve sto r m i s "ca g e d " i n a sh o w ca s e l a b o r a tory. To th e ch a r m o f th e s w i r l i n g w a te r y o u a d d th e n o i se c a u s e d b y th e i m p a c t a g a i n st th e g l a ss, th a t i nd u c e , a l most for empathy, a state of agitation in the mind of the observer and feels torn between impotence in the face of Nature and the domain man's mind on it.� (A. Mazzottero)
HURRICANE (REVERSIBLE), (2010), i n s ta l l a ti o n vi e w a t Ge or ge -K olbe M us e um , Be r l i n glass, demineralized water, ventilators, ultrasonic nebulizer, halogen lamps, electrical system, microphone, speaker, 170x50x50 cm photo by Marcus Schneider, Berlin
i n s ta l l a ti o n vi e w ( Ge o r g e - Ko l b e M u s e u m , Be r l i n ) photo by Marcus Schneider
“...Hurricanes and storms "under glass" transform us instead in privileged observers, able to enjoy the most catastrophic natural events safely, thus enjoying the feeling of the Sublime even in small doses...�
impluvium
“ I H ope Im pluv ium ” – 2 0 0 9 In s ta l l a ti o n v i e w ( c a s a R o m a n a Sp o l e to ) g l a ss , a l u m i n i u m , w a te r, g a s n e b u l a , e l e c tr i c m o to r, h y d r a u l i c p u m p s , n e o n , s o u n d w o o fe r, a mp l i fi ca to r, d i m . 1 6 0 x1 6 0 x1 6 0 c m , i n s ta l l a ti o n ’s vi e w a t “ R o m a n H o u s e o f S p o l e to ” , P h o to El a Bi a l ko w sk a
A g l a s s a n d a l u m i n i u m s tr u c tu r e co n ta i n s a s y s te m a b l e to g e n e r a te a s m a l l , b u t v i o l e n t, w a te r e x p l o si o n . M i c ro p h o n e s w i th su cke r, co n n e c te d to a n a u d i o sy s te m , a m p l i fy th e stru ctu r e i n n e r s o u n d cr e a ti n g a n i m a g i n a r y a u d i o -c u b i c s p a c e . Sp a c e i m p l o d e s u p o n i ts e l f tr a n s fo rm i n g a n a r ti fi c i a l p h e n o m e n o n i n to a m e n ta l sta te .
“Pr oje c t for I H ope ” , 2 0 0 9 , d r a w i n g o n p a p e r, 1 0 0 c mx 7 0 c m , Ph o to Th o m a s N i tz
“I Hope Impluvium” – DETAIl , 2009 g l a s s, a l u m i n i u m , w a te r, g a s n e b u l a , e l e c tr i c m o to r, h y d r a u l i c p u m p s , n e o n , s o u n d w o o fe r, a mp l i fi c a to r, ,d i m .1 6 0 x 1 6 0 x 1 6 0 c m , Ph o to El a Bi a l ko w s k a
" A R e v e r si b l e Pr o c e ss i s a p r o ce ss th a t ca n b e "r e ve r se d " b y m e a n s o f i n fi n i te s i m a l c h a n g e s i n so m e p r o p e r ty o f th e sy ste m w i th o u t e n tr o p y p r o d u c ti o n o r d i ss i p a ti o n o f e n e r g y. D u e to th e s e i n fi n i te s i m a l ch a n g e s, th e sys te m i s i n th e r mo d yn a m i c e q u i l i b r i u m th r o u g h o u t th e e n ti r e p r o c e s s . S i n ce i t w o u l d ta k e an infinite amount of time for the reversible process to finish, perfectly reversible processes are i m p o s si b l e . H o w e ve r, i f th e sy ste m u n d e r g o i n g th e c h a n g e s r e sp o n d s m u c h fa ste r th a n th e a p p l i e d change, the deviation from reversibility may be negligible. In a reversible cycle, the system and i t s s u r r o u n d i n g s w i l l b e e xa c tl y th e s a m e a fte r e a c h c y c l e ."
A structure that is 2.50 m high generates inside itself a column of air that speed around. This form, almost "immaterial", moves in relation to the outside noise . In this sculpture the sound become equalizer of an image and its movement.
“ C olonna s onor a II� , 2 0 1 2 , i n s ta l l a ti o n v i e w a t th e M U S MA M us e um , M a te ra g l a ss , d e m i n e r a l i ze d w a te r, u l tr a so n i c n e b u l i z e r, g a l v a n i z e d i ro n , fa n , h a l o g e n ,l a m p s 3 5 w a tt, p o te n ti o m e te r, m i rr o r, c h a n n e l a u d i o , 4 5 x 4 5 x 2 5 0 cm . Ph o to b y An g e l o Sa b a ti e l l o
“Project for Vacuum”, mixed media on card board, 160 x 121 cm
“Colonna sonora II” , 2012 glass, demineralized water, ultrasonic nebulizer, galvanized iron, fan, halogen, lamps 35watt, potentiometer, mirror, channel audio, c h a n n e l a u d i o , 45x45x250cm. Photo by Angelo Sabatiello
Th e i n te n s i ty a n d th e m o ve m e n t o f th e v a p o r o n th e i n s i d e , va r i e s i n r e l a ti o n to th e n o i s e o u ts i d e th e s c u l p tu re . Th e re fo re th e sh a p e s th a t th e a i r ta ke s o n b e c o m e s v i su a l r e p r e s e n ta ti o n s o f s o u n d o r n o i se .
“C olonna s onor a II� , 2 0 1 2 i n s ta l l a ti o n v i e w a t th e M u s m a M u s e u m Ma te r a , g l a s s, d e m i n e r a l i ze d w a te r, u l tr a so n i c n e b u l i z e r, g a l va n i z e d i ro n , fa n , h a l o g e n , l a mp s 3 5 w a tt, p o te n ti o m e te r, m i r r o r, c h a n n e l a u d i o , c h a n n e l a u d i o , 4 5 x 4 5 x2 5 0 cm Ph o to b y An g e l o Sa b a ti e l l o
“Feedback� , 2012 g l a s s, d e mi n e ra l i ze d w a te r, s te e l , u l tr a s o n i c n e b u l i z e r u l tr a so u n d , fl o a t, d i a c r o n i c s l a mp s , h e l i c o i d a l a s p i r a to r, 1 6 0 x 4 0 x4 0 c m ., Ph o to b y A n g e l o S a b a ti e l l o
The movement of the vapor on the inside, varies in relation to the noise outside the sculpture
“Colonna Sonora� , 2011, Macro Museum, Rome glass, demineralized water, steel, ultrasonic nebulizer, galvanized iron, fan, diacronics lamps , potentiometer, mirror, channel audio, 160x40x40 cm, Photo by Fabio Paparelli
Th e i n te n si ty a n d th e m o v e me n t o f th e v a p o r o n th e i n s i d e , v a r i e s i n r e l a ti o n to th e n o i s e i n a c d i n si d e o f th e s cu l p tu r e . Th e re fo r e th e sh a p e s th a t th e a i r ta k e s o n b e c o m e s vi s u a l re p r e se n ta ti o n s o f s o u n d o r n o i s e .
“ R um or e di Fondo - N OIS E” , 2 0 11 ( s e que nc y s ound’s m ov e m e nt) g l a ss, d e mi n e r a l i ze d w a te r, u l tra s o n i c n e b u l i z e r, g a l v a n i z e d i r o n , fa n , h a l o g e n l a m p s 3 5 w a tt, p o te n ti o me te r, m i r r o r, c h a n n e l a u d i o , 4 5 x 4 5 x 2 1 5 c m , Ph o to b y Si mo n d ´ Exé a
“P r oje c t for s te e ple c ha s e ” , 2 0 11 , d r a w i n g o n p a p e r, 1 8 5 c mx 11 0 c m, P h o to b y Fa b i o Pa p a r e l l i
“Narciso� , 2011 installation in MACRO Museum in Rome glass, demineralized water, ultrasonic nebulizer, galvanized iron, fan, halogen diachronic lamps , potentiometer, mirror, channel audio, 230 x 49 x 46 cm., Photo by Fabio Paparelli
installation view, exhibition “Storie Italiane”, Bologna Art Fair 2012, Italy “Narciso”, 2011 , glass, demineralized water, ultrasonic nebulizer, galvanized iron, fan, halogen diachronic lamps , potentiometer, mirror, channel audio, 240 x 50 x 50cm “The meaning of the things”, 2011 mixed media on cardboard, 160 x 240 cm ,
“Narciso�, 2011
A structure that is 2.30 m long generates inside itself a horizontal column of air that speed around. This form almost "immaterial" moves in relation to the noise outside of the sculpture. In this sculpture the flow of air and the speed of the movement of the horizontal tornado can be adjusted through the noise outside In this way this sculpture, made of air, can be modified and customized each time.
“The intensity and the movement of the vapor on the inside, varies in relation to the noise outside the sculpture.�
“BE2 (Butterfly Effect2), drawing on paper, 165x110cm
“Te nor e di Fondo” , 2 0 11 ins t a lla tion in 5 4 m a int e r na tiona l B ie nna l of Ve nic e , It a ly g l a s s , d e m i n e r a l i z e d w a t e r, u l t r a s o n i c n e b u l i z e r, g a l v a n i z e d i r o n , f a n , h a l o g e n l a m p s 3 5 w a t t , p o t e n t i o m e t e r, m i r r o r, t r a n s f o r m e r o f a u d i o - e l e c t r i c s i g n a l f r o m d i g i t a l t o a n a l o g , 4 c h a n n e l audio, 45 x 45 x 215 cm. Photo by Simon d´Exéa.
“Tenore di Fondo� 2012
Installation view at Stadtgalerie Museum, Kiel, Germany
A transparent structure, made of glass and plexiglass, and iron generates inside itself a mutation of element water (from liquid stadium to gaseous stadium)Ă , a column of air that speed around. This form, almost “immaterialâ€?, moves in relation to the noise outside of sculpture . In this sculpture the noise become equalizer of an image and its movement. The intensity and the movement of the vapor on the inside, varies in relation to the outside Therefore the shapes that the air takes on becomes visual representations of sound
Invisible _ 2013 Beyond Museum Seoul, Hiunday Project glass, plexiglass, demineralized water, ultrasonic nebulizer, , resin, fan, diacronic lamps 35watt, transformer of audio-electric signal from digital to analog, potentiometer,microphone 240x 45 x 45cm.
Installation view Macro Museum in Rome, 2014
“Pe nt a gon” , 2 0 1 2 glass, demineralized water, ultrasonic nebulizer, galvanized iron, resin, fan, halogen lamps 35watt, transformer of audio-electric signal from digital to analog, potentiometer, microphone, 150 x 50 x 50c, Photo by Angelo Sabatiello “ P e n ta g o n ” , i n s ta l l a ti o n v i e w M U SM A M u s e u m , 2 0 1 2
R e ce n tl y, i t h a s b e e n w i d e l y d i s cu s s e d i f m a n m a y s u b s ta n ti a l l y ch a n g e th e cl i m a te b y m o d i fyi n g th e chemical composition of the atmosphere through the addition of gases that interact with the thermal radiati o n e m i tte d b y th e Ea rth sy ste m . In o u r o p i n i o n , th i s s ta te m e n t i s tr i vi a l l y tru e , s i n ce a r e sp o n s e to th i s fo r c i n g m u st s u r e l y o cc u r. Wh e n , h o w e ve r, th e k e y q u e sti o n i s a s ke d , i .e . h o w m u c h th e m a n -i n d u ce d stre s s o n c l i ma te w i l l c h a n g e i ts b e h a v i o r, th e a n s w e r b e c o me s e xtre me l y g ra y a n d w h a t i s a tri v i a l fa ct b e co m e s a ra th e r o b s c u re s u b j e c t. Th e r e a s o n s r e s i d e o n o u r p o o r u n d e rs ta n d i n g o f th e m u l ti fo l d i n te ra c ti o n s th a t a p e r tu rb a ti o n i n a p a r ti c u l a r c o mp o n e n t o f th e cl i m a te sy s te m u n d e r g o e s b e fo r e i ts e ffe c t i s m a n i fe s t a t th e m a cr o sc o p i c l e v e l . M o r e o ve r, w h i l e a t a p a r ti c u l a r s p a ti a l -te m p o ra l s ca l e su ch a p e rtu r b a ti o n m a y h a v e a w e l l d e s c r i b e d e ff e c t , a t o t h e r s p a t i a l - t e m p o r a l s c a l e s i t c o u l d b e s o d i l u t e d t o b e c o m e a n i r r e l e v a n t c o m p o n e n t o f th e s y s te m . ( Al fo n so Su te r a )
“ Why Henry Cavendish did not smoke� , 2010 installation view at Centre Saint Benin , Aosta, Italy glass, demineralized water, ventilators, ultrasonic nebulizer, chemical snow, halogen lamps, 170x50x50 cm, Photo Angelo Sabatiello A glass container the size of human generate a small but potent snow storm within
“U .S .A . U nionShoc k A m e r ic a n 2 ” , 2 0 1 2 , D r a w i n g o n p a p e r, 1 5 0 cm x 11 0 c m , Ph o to b y Xi a o w e i C h e n
Or d e r a n d C h a o s i n a Fe e d b a ck sy ste m
"Fe e d b a c k i s a p r o c e s s i n w h i c h i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e p a s t o r t h e p r e s e n t i n f l u e n c e s t h e s a m e p h e n o m e n o n i n th e p r e s e n t o r f u t u r e . A s p a r t o f a c h a i n o f c a u s e - a n d - e f f e c t t h a t f o r m s a c i r c u i t o r l o o p , th e e v e n t i s sa i d to "fe e d b a ck " i n to i tse l f."
�Reversible Carpet and Irreversible Geyser�, 2012 alluminium, galvanized iron, microphones, speaker, diacronic lamps, modified fog machine smoke fluid, electric system, potetiometer pressure. dim. 1500cmx150cmx40cm Photo Fausto Starace
A ca rp e t l o n g 1 5 me te r s m a ke so u n d e ve r y ti me p e o p l e s te p s o n i t, i n th e mi d ti m e . a b i g Ge yse r, ma d e o f n e b u l o u s smo ke a n d 8 me te rs ta l l , tu rn o n w h i t i rre g u l a r a n d ca su a l i n te r mi s s i o n , A c a rp e t m a d e o f s te e l , 1 6 m l o n g , i s co n n e cte d to a so u n d sys te m. Eve ry ti me th a t s o me o n e ste p o n i t a so u n d i s g e n e ra te d . Th e so u n d v a r i e s i n r e l a ti o n to th e fo rc e , p re ss u re a n d p o si ti o n th a t th e u se r e xe rts o n th e su r fa ce o f th e c a r p e t. At th e e x tre mi ty o f th e str u c tu r e a g e ys e r o f s mo ke m i st, a p p r o xi ma te l y 1 0 m h i g h , i s a cti va te d a t u k n o w n ti me a n d r a n d o m l y
Reversible Carpet and Irreversible Geyser, 2012 iron, alluminium, steel, smog machine, timer, electronic system, speakers, microphone coxx, dim, 12m x 1,30m , photo F. Starace
”R e v e r s ible C a r pe t a nd Ir r e v e r s ible Ge y s e r ” P h o to b y Fa u s to S ta ra ce
“ R e v e r s i b l e C a rp e t a n d Ir r e v e rs i b l e Ge ys e r ” , 2 0 1 2
i n sta l l a ti o n v i e w a t A uditor ium of R e nzo Pia no - R om e
R e v e r s ible Ge y s e r ( R e v e r z ibilne ’ Me c ha niz m y ) 2 0 1 0 e l e c tri c sy s te m, s e n s o r, fo g -ma c h i n e mo d i fi e , s mo k e fl u i d n e b u l i z a to r,
Ph o to b y Pa to Sa fk o i n s ta l l a ti o n v i e w a t S pa c e Ga lle r y, B r a t is la v a
“Pr oje c t for e x plos ion“ 2 0 1 0 , d ra w i n g , 1 8 0 x1 2 0 cm , p h o to Th o ma s N i tz
“The Time of Time�, 2011 alluminium, nebulizator, fan, electric system, timer, smoke fluid, fog-machine modified, dim 30cmx30cmx40cm
in unk nown a nd r a ndom tim e , t he s e s c ulpt ur e c r e a t e d a big ge y s e r m a de of s m ok e .
“Ideal Explosion”, 2011, drawing on paper, 175cmx115cm
Instable notes
Mechanisms of Instability: it is about calculating the order of phenomena, so as to decipher disorder (paradox: chaos falls within determinism). It is in fact this fl u ctu a ti n g b o u n d a r y th a t i n d u ce s str e ss, e xc i te m e n t a n d th e e xp e r i e n ce o f l i m its… BetweeNPerceptive microcosm/ sensory macrocosm and between mental i m p l o sion/ electric explosion. Donato Piccolo’s Uragano (Hurricane) is an “air sculpture”, a miraculous synthesis and lab-phenomena: within its glass display it is both artificial and natural. The artist turns the switch on then off, and a r a i n bow appears before the spectator’s eyes. More installations/ inquiries: Un cuore di phyrex (A heart of pyrex) is a water circuit between two zinc buckets forming both a structure reproducing the organization chart of a mechanical rhythm (mathematical), as well as a “pulsation”, in both the metaphorical and the emotional sense, which Donato calls (water) tachycardia - that is to say from organic to inorganic, or the alchemy of mechanical elements. Matter is here almost absent - it is the strong mental presence that moulds form (this presence is the artist). All the necessary concepts to describe these works take on a double meaning: thus “energy”, “tension”, “pressure”, “alternative” refer both to the electric current and to the air unleashed by the storm taking place inside the glass display, as well as the palpitation, the emotion felt by the spectator assisting to this phenomenon. From here… what Donato calls “the climate of the soul”. His hurricanes are inquiries around natural phenomena and the spectator’s reaction (perceptual, emotional and cognitive). He is fascinated by experimentation, as exploration of the limits of perception, with hypothes i s o f fu ture capabilities… for a technologically mutated humanity? L’Uovo (the Egg): more transparent than the heart, it is life itself - concentrated in the perfection and potentiality of an egg. Placed inside a glass box, Donato Piccolo e xp o se s it to various weather conditions and physical stress, a sort of nightmarish incubator, site of prenatal tortures. Nouns, again, take on a double value, one being material, the other perceptive/emotional; e.g. “resistance” (the electronic resistance prevents the system from exploding, from self destructing, w h e r e a s the experiment measures the limit of experience of the egg… a n d t h e r e fo re i ts e xi ste n ce ) . E xi s te n ce l i e s w i th i n re si sta n c e : “ re s i sta n c e i s e x istence”, argues Donato piccolo. The titles of his works: like in Marcel Duchamp they are integral part of the proposal and supply the key to interpret conceptual experimentation. The hurricane’s “vertigo”, the water’s “tachycardia”, the egg’s headache, confirm the phenomenolo ical chiasm that occurs between the see-through machine and whoever perceives its functioning (let’s not forget
the artist himself !) The theme of artificial intelligence is here touched on: one day, w h e r e w i l l th e b o r d e r l i n e b e tr a ce d b e tw e e n th e m a ch i n e r e p r o d u ci n g - a n d perfecting- cerebral mech nisms, and the natural cognition of, anxiety or pain? Piccolo’s under-glass events belong to the family of Celibate Machines, from the preliminary Broyeuse de chocolat to Duchamp’s Final Large Glass: Mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires même, has no contact with its admirers – is hence without love – yet, it has the capacity to generate perceptions, emotions and cognitive enlightenment into the male shapes of “Moules maliques”! (as well as in us, whom Duchamp called “the regardeurs”) Piccolo’s “celibate machines” are not complete formal objects (sculptures), but are rather manifestations of physical phenomena and “perceptive human will”. It is about verifying an idea, also as capacity to read though time, and anticipating What does Donato “hope” for? Reversingtime in order to bring back to life the an cient impluvium, with the garden and the fountains, maybe? I personally feel a fascinating “end of the world”, like a lab model of the Flood, for example those drawn by Leonardo at the court of Frances I of France, after decades of obsessive research on the power of water, wind and light – on earth, in the sky and on the drawing paper... Sound booms inside the atrium and inside our brain; it alarms it and drowns it, asking the question: will a new mental ecology, a new sensibility, rise from this bang? Is this headache, 2007 glass, nebulizator, egg, alluminium, water, 37x26x26cm, Ph o to El a Bi a l k o w s ka
t h e “ h o p e ” ? Au t o l i g h t , o r “ a u t o - r e f r a c t i o n ” – play onwords on “auto”, both as self and as car… Refracting is definitely not reflecting: in reflection the sur-
face gives back thesurroundingimages, and it is in fact a reflected image (I would argue that reflecting is “figurative”); on the other hand, in refraction, the surface catches the light without distinguishing between forms and sends it back amplified (I would argue that refracting is “abstract”). Thus, in Spoleto the bodywork of Autolight, shot back from the future with its beams on in the tranquil Roman domus, it appears like an “Unidentified Flying Object”. It becomes a threatening mass, so blinding as to become paradoxically almost invisible. Invisible, intangible, might it be anti-matter? David Cronenberg would appreciate it… If Piccolo’s Autolight was mounted on wheels, equipped with an engine and put on a highway, it would be barely visible and yet would cause incalculable casualties… Anne Marie Sauzeau Boetti, Spoleto 2009
dream machine
“Dream Machine� - 2010 galvanized iron, silicon diaphragm, fog machine, smoke fluid, LED light, electric motor, sensor,, 150x130x130cm, Photo Thomas Nitz
e v e r y tim e tha t a s pe c t a t or c om e s ne a r t he f r ont of t he s c ulpt ur e is ge ne r a t e s a s m a ll c loud tha t s lowly r is e int o t he a ir
photo Thomas Nitz
D re a m M a ch i n e l o o ks l i k e a s i m p l e s te a m i n g i r o n c yl i n d e r o n l e g s w i th w h e e l s . In re a l i ty i t i s a c o m p l e x s y s te m c o ns i s ti n g o f se n so rs , a n e l e ctri c m o to r, a fo g m a c h i n e a n d L ED l i g h ts. Th i s s tr a n g e d e v i c e , h o w e ve r s tro n g l y a w a y fr o m a n y o rg a n i c fo r m , i s a b l e to i n te ra ct w i th p e o p l e w h o a r e i n i ts v i ci n i ty, b y m o d u l a ti n g th e r e l e a s e o f ste a m fr o m i ts s u m m i t j u st i n r e l a ti o n to th e i r m o v e me n ts . Th e sm o ky cu rta i n cre a te d i t's th e sy mb o l o f e v a n e s c e n c e o f th e d r e a m d i m e n si o n , s o r e a l i n th e m e m o ry w e h a v e o f h i s e x p e r i e n c e , b u t e th e r e a l i n i ts n a tu r e o f h a l l u ci n a ti o n b y n i g h t..
Pr oje c t f or “ D r e a m M a c hine ” , 2 0 1 0 mi xe d me d i a o n ca rd b o a r d . 1 7 0 x11 0 cm , Ph o to Th o m a s N i tz
Pr oje c t for “ D r e a m Ma c hine ” II , 2 0 1 0 m i x e d me d i a o n c a rd b o a r d . 1 7 0 x 11 0 c m, Ph o to Th o ma s N i tz
photo A. Sabatiello
“project for the wind“ , 2015, drawing, 170x110cm
“Quantistico “ , 2015, drawing on paper, 100x70cm
“Quantistico IV“ , 2016, drawing on paper, 180x120cm
Paradoxes of physics
“Nature has got it cooked up so we’ll never be able to figure out how she does it” Richard P. Feynman
A hurricanology of feelings We enter into a superb 1st century building in Spoleto: i t i s a R o m a n h o u s e , v e r y a tm o sp h e r i c th r o u g h o u t i ts a r ch e s, v a u l ts a n d fl o o r m o saics. A bizarre chemical marriage between ancient architecture and contemporary art is being celebrated here. Indeed, a contemporary artist has chosen this place as stage for a series of myterious events, occurring under glass displays. The artist is Donato Piccolo, who is taking nature into the city, prearranging the space for scientific experiments, as he creates a microcosm within the cosmos of the Roman house. Transparent parallelepipeds lodge miniature natural events, such as a series of small artificially recreated hurricanes (Hurricane). The tools are ventilation, atomization circuits and illuminating engineering. The hurricane i m a g e s a r e r e n d e r e w i th e m o ti o n . H e r e a n a r ti fi c i a l p h e n o m e n o n i s b e i n g t r a n s formed into a mental state. In Ritratti (Portraits, 2009) the images a r e p e r sonalised - here is Katrina, there is Pablo. Although they are portraits of natural phenomena, an aesthetic dimension has been conferred upon th e m . C o n tained by sheer volume, I Hope Impluvium is a water explosion – its form is created by chance. The fantastic faculty of the artist is to imagine clouds and give them a shape. Donato Piccolo’s work is regulated chaos, or a rule that becomes chaotic. It is an unstable mechanism. A mechanism is considered l o g i ca l , th e co n j u g a ti o n i s u n sta b l e - i t i s n o t a p a r a d o x b u t a n o xy m o r o n , a concept that generates a short circuit. An explosion comes out of two electronic elements that are being synchronized. The explosion has its origin in metallic potassium a pure and extremely reactive element. It is like working out theenergy between twopeople as they meet. Like Robert Barry andGino De Dominicis before him,the artist insists on the dialectics between materiality and immateriality. On the 4th of March 1969 Barry dissolved a litre of Argon gas in the atmosphere, starting the so called ‘Inert Gas Series’: “I chose to work with inert gas because there was not the constant presence of a small object or device that produced the art. Inert gas is a material that is imperceptible – it does not combine with any other element… it continues to expand forever in the atmosphere, constantly changing, and it does all of this without anybody being able to see it”. The i n v i sibility pursued by Gino De Dominicis is one of the possible bodily states. It is a material element, even though it cannot be seen. In one of his early works, published in the Attico catalogue, the needle of a scales marks the weight, a l though nothing appears on the dish. Like De Domicis and Yves Klein, Donato
Piccolo ponders on his flight attempt – exemplified by irony in the former and drama in the latter. Piccolo, instead, encloses it all inside a magazine. The single issue is dated Thursday, November the 22nd and is titled “The newspaper of one day only. An umpteenth flight attempt”, four sides in which the artist gathers writings (Yves Klein, Fabio Mauri, Franco Berdini, the great scholar of the Sumerian c i v i l i z a t i o n G i o vanni Pettinato…) and images (Gino De Dominicis…). In substance this paper constitute Piccolo’s first artistic intervention. With the Kleinian title Un homme dans l’espace! Piccolo appears supplied with Leonardesque wings. The idea i s to th r o w h i m se l f fr o m h i s s tu d i o o n th e se co n d fl o o r o f a b u i l d i n g , b u t th e p e r fo r m ance is replaced by the paper operation Mechanical Bodies The second exhibition is tinged with domestic vision: at home, we are surrounded by machines like the washing machine, a sort of domestic robot. In an exhibition curated by Raffaele Gavarro at the Studio Soligo (Domestica, 2004) several robots designed by Piccolo are on show. Housekeeping rests between the human idea of privacy and what might be a robot’s. A robot is born out of the manic attention for the human body and its maze of circuits and mechanisms. The theme of the body is central to Piccolo’s work. The shadow itself is the possibility of the body to project itself. Silvia Curses (2006) suggests for Piccolo the concept of “mental corporality” – as both the body and the m i n d b e l o n g to th e p h ys i ca l d i m e n si o n . Th e r e fo r e Pi cco l o ’s w o r k i s se t a s a “ r e v i s i tation of Leonardesque drawings of the human body, plunged into reality” (Mattia Accardi 2006). At Lab2 (The Academy of St Luke 2004) Piccolo suggests that where the elevated high way is demolished, the pillars become an audio museum, transmitting sounds and voices to whoever approaches. The dimension of sound is physical, although invisible. At the Adriatico Biennale (curated by Antonio Arevalo) Piccolo’swork is dedicated to the inventor of the c hemists’ scrolling LED signs, like in a work by Jenny Holzer. The work is formed of two crosses with communicating scrolling text. In the Arabian and Sirian Pavillon at the 2007 Biennale, Piccolo p r e s e n ts s c u l p tu re s th a t a r e a l m o s t c l a ssi ca l , ye t i n m o ti o n . H e m e e ts a n d c o l l a b o rates with the poet Marco Luzi in the making of a poeticalvisual sculpture. “Sculptures are mental, are emptiness and generate emptiness around them” (Donato Piccolo from Duccio Trombadori’s text). Piccolo starts from the study of mechanisms, and faces the question of the engine through an aesthetical sense. H u r r i c a n o l o gy’stop experts, like Professor Sutera, have studied hurricanes in every w a y, n o n e t h e l e s s t h e s u b t e n d e d m a r e n o t y e t f u l l y u n d e r s t o o d . I t i s a m a s s i v e s c u l p ture made by air and atmospheric pressure. It is an act of unity and a spatialtemporal vision determined by atmospheric change; air sculptures th a t ma terialise by hot and cold temperatures, as if affected by meteopathy. In my view, the peculiarity of Donato Piccolo’s operation is found within the political tra n s figuration of concepts such as heaviness and lightness. Nostalgia presents the metal body of a frozen car, which had been frozen through a chemical process in a different room of the house. The Roman House is thus inhabited by amechanical presence, a cold vehicle to ride time. The idea of time is at the basis of the exhibition. The intent is to control usually uncontrollable natural phenomena, once they are set in time (and space). “Generally, when these events manifest in nature, they contain an adjoining space and are not, as in this case, contained in a set space. In this case the term of the object’s phenomenological evaluation is inverted and ‘reinterpreted’
“ M e t a m or phos is of a r a r e f lowe r ” , 2 0 1 2 d r a w i n g o n p a p e r, 2 8 0 c mx1 7 0 cm
“M e ta m or phos is of a n a r ge ntinia n f lowe r �,2 0 1 2 , d ra w i n g o n p a p e r, 2 7 0 x1 6 0 c m
through a formal-aesthetic key, which differs from its original meaning. Thus, the p h e n o m e n o n o f n a tu r e b e co m e s th e p h e n o m e n o n o f a n a e sth e ti c n a tu r e , tr a n sforming itself from physical events into emotional perceptions” (Donato Pic entific mythology “We can say, and it would be a suitable explanation, that our life, although not yet scientifically organised, calls upon us an involvement regulated by certain rules that already belong to scientific mythology” (Mario Luzi, L’ u o m o m o d e r n o e l a n o i a ) . S c i e n t i f i c m y t h o l o g y s e e m s t o b e p r e s i d i n g o v e r D o nato Piccolo’s work. One of his experiments is to create an e l e c t r i c r a i n bow: in a given space light is generated by seven different colours and conveyed through a system of electrical discharges, equipped with filters and at extremely high voltage. Whereas within nature a rainbow carries a peaceful feeling (so much as to be used as a symbol in the flags of peace movements) in the electrical form its value shifts, its symbolism changes in respect to its original perception. The artist defines it as a calm chaos. Set within regulated structures it gains an aesthetic value. It is a sign of the tension between the natural and the artificial. In Pittsburgh (Wood Street Galleries) Piccolo takes part in a collective show (Physica- Conditions). The theme is dedicated to atmospheric phenomena and material conditions. It is about artists who enquire into the physicality o f se n sorial experience. A musician transposes the atmosphere of a glasscaged hurricane into an electronic sound. In Matteo Boetti’s gallery Piccolo takes part with Maurizio Mocchetti in a curious experiment: a booth is set into the gallery space, inside of which a female figure lends her body to a double work. The two artists transform the woman’s anterior part (Mocchetti, Triangle) and the posterior one (Piccolo, Crossing) into abstract sense. In 2008, Matteo Boetti commissions the artist to create seven multiple portraits of Maurice Thouriel, the scientist who back in 1810 had forecasted cloning, the reproduction of that which does not exist. The work consists of seven oil painted originals, which together constitute The Portable Museum of Mr. M., a portable museum made of iron, neon lights and human bones. “In The Portable Museum of Mr. M., Donato Piccolo selects a few details, which become a sort of scientist’s reliquary, and seek to sum up his identity”. A series of works titled Headache (2008, Headache is also the title of a w o r k b y Gi l b e r t& Ge o r g e ) i s co n sti tu te d b y a g l a s s d i sp l a y h o l d i n g w i th i n a n a tural element (the egg) exposed to atmospheric agents and pressure. This egg, a small microcosm analogous to the head, is subjected to atmospheric prescolol sure. Niccolò Todapo defines the operation as “an unnatural enquiry into the naturallimit of pain”. Rain falls through an atomizer circuit creating a generative-emotional mechanism. “The antiheroes of Piccolo’s installations are mercilessly anchored to the earth. Locked inside an endless headache, they dream of soaring into the air”. Once again flight and the longing for it. “Ar t, u n derstandably, cannot not be analytical, it must inquire into the natural, physical, biological and scientific aspects, which are at the basis of human life, using as foundation the emotional aspect”. Thus in Pesoforma1 (IdealWeight) and Clashing Against the Void (both 2008), the neon light text “PESO” (weight) and “NULLA” (nothing) follow a body’s contour. In my view, Piccolo goes back to the source of art’s conceptual current, and more generally what Filiberto Menna has defined the analytical line. As for the hurricanes contained in displays we
may mention a series of precedents: Marcel Duchamp’s cruet Air de Paris; the empty glass cabinet, sole survivor furniture from Iris Clert gallery, which had been left there by Ives Klein for his show Le Vide (1958); Kondensationwurfel, a series of “condensation cubes” carried out between 1963 and 1965 by Hans Haacke. The cube is partially filled up with water and then sealed, a light then radiates heat which causes the water to evaporate and condense: “The process of condensation d o e s n o t e n d . T h e b o x h a s a c o n s t a n t s l o w l y c h a n g i n g a p p e a r a n c e w h i c h n e v e r r e p e a ts i ts e l f. Th e co n d i ti o n s a r e co m p a r a b l e to a l i v i n g o r g a n i sm w h i ch r e acts in a flexible manner to its surroundings. The image of condensation c a n n o t b e p r e ci se l y p r e d i c te d … ” . Th e Wo r k i s part of the time in which Haake analyses natural systems before examining s o ci a l o n e s . Fo r th e n e o n w o r d s Pi cco l o se e m s to b e r e fe r r i n g to Br u ce N a u man who in 1966 made Neon Templates of the Left Half of My Body Taken at Ten-Inch Intervals. The neon outlines correspond to the head, shoulder, chest, waist, thigh, knee and calf, but are not immediately recognisable. Disposable empties (2008) is a fibreglass sculpture that depicts a human body in vertical fall, whilst neon lights mark the cavities that are formed. Throughout these works Piccolo seeks spatial measure through human m e a su r e . M a n i s t h e m e a s u r e o f a l l t h i n g s - b o d y ’s a b s t r a c t , a r t i f i c i a l a n d m e c h a n ical equivalents. Like Piccolo’s works, bodies are transfigured by thoughts. Even for Leonardo art was a “mental matter”.
Laura Cherubini 2010
“R e v e r s ibilit y of 7 U ns t a ble Ele m e nt s 3 ” , 2 0 1 0 1 7 0 x11 0 cm , [d ra w i n g / p r o j e c t] Ph o to Th o m a s N i tz
“Reversibility of 7 Unstable Elements “, 2010 [gallery installation view] glass, pvc, electric pumps, microphones, electrical system, timer, iron, water, audio system. 7 objects, each of 32x18x105 cm, Photo by Thomas Nitz instalation view in Galerie Mario Mazzoli , Berlin
Water flows inside seven elementsof blown glass. The noise create by this circuits createsa sound that is amplified. Every sculpture is a different sound calibrated toa musical note. The risult is a synphony of modulated sounds of nature.
“Reversibility of 7 Unstable Elements “ (DETAIL), 2010, Photo by Thomas Nitz
“Reversibility of 7 Unstable Elements “ (DETAIL), 2010, Photo by Thomas Nitz
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions, where a small change at one place in a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state.
“ B utt e r f ly Ef f e c t � , 2 0 1 2 , ( D ETA IL) galvanized Iron, electric system, butterfly, amplifier, speaker, variable size, Photo by Angelo Sabatiello
“B ut te r fly Ef fe c t�, 2 0 1 2 ( D ETAIL ) galvanized Iron, electric system, butterfly, amplifier, speaker, variable size, Photo Angelo Sabatiello
the movement of an electronic butterfly produces a sound that is amplified along the entire sculpture
“Butterfly Effect�, 2012, (DETAIL) galvanized iron, electric system, butterfly, amplifier, speaker, variable size, Photo by Angelo Sabatiello
“Butterfly Effect”, (installation view ) 2012
“B utte r fly Ef fe c t” , 2 0 1 4 ins ta lla tion v ie w M a c r o M us e um R om e galvanized Iron, electric system, butterfly, amplifier, speaker, 15mx5mx4m Photo by Simon d’E’xea
“BE6 (Butterfly Effect 6)”, 2014 , drawing, collage and butterflyon paper, 190x110cm
“ B ut t e r fly Ef fe c t ” , 2 0 1 4 , ins ta lla tion v ie w M a c r o M us e um R om e
“The movement of a single electron by a billionth of a centimeter at a given time, it could mean the difference between two very different events, such as the killing of a man a year later, due to an avalanche.� (Al a n Tu ri n g )
The title of this work is taken from a sentences of Alan Turing, a British mathematician of the XX century who was the first to make a direct contribution to the concept of computer science.The phrase underline the possibility of each element to be the cause or consequence of another element. In this work the three glass structures have the appearance of a molecular structures and they are connected with each other by a communicating vessels and pumps, hydraulic and of air. The variation of one of these structures can change consequently the others, and so it determs the variation of the whole sculptural system.The system continuously produces different and unexpected variations of the flow of water and air.
“The m ov e m e nt of a s ingle e le c t r on by a billiont h of a c e nt im e t e r a t a giv e n t im e , it c ould m e a n t he dif fe r e nc e be twe e n t wo v e r y diff e r e nt e v e nt s , s uc h a s t he k illing of a m a n a y e a r la te r, due t o a n a v a la nc he .�, 2 0 1 2
Glass Pirex, water, plexiglass tubes, electric-water pump, el ectric air-pump, mixer audio, speaker, microphone coxx, 220cmx60x100cm Photo by Angelo Sabatiello
“The movement of a single electron by a billionth of a centimeter at a given time, it could mean the difference between two v e r y diff e r e nt e v e nt s , s uc h a s t he k illing of a m a n a y e a r la t e r, due t o a n a v a la nc he .” , 2 0 1 2 Glass Pirex, water, plexiglass tubes, electric-water pump, electric air-pump, mixer audio, speaker, microphone coxx, 220cmx60x100cm, Photo by Angelo Sabatiello
“Among the outstanding problems that Physics have to face, surely, the understanding of the climate behavior can be considered one of the most challenging. All the fundamental forces seem to operate at the lowest order. However, it appears that they operate with a large degree of randomness wherein a systematic (deterministic) behavior is floating in this sea of uncertainty. It is hard, in fact, to exclude that observations just describe the outcome of an erratic dynamics, while it is equally hard to rule out that certain effects may have well-established causes...” (Franco Prodi and Alfonso Sutera)
The work is the result of a sperimentation between the liquid phace and the gas phace
“The m ov e m e nt of a s ingle e le c t r on by a billiont h of a c e nt im e t e r a t a giv e n t im e , it c ould m e a n t he dif fe r e nc e be twe e n t wo v e r y dif f e r e nt e v e nt s , s uc h a s t he k illing of a m a n a y e a r la t e r, due t o a n a v a la nc he .�, 2 0 1 2 Glass Pirex, water, plexiglass tubes, electric-water pump, electric air-pump, mixer audio, speaker, microphone coxx, 220cmx60x100cm, Photo by Angelo Sabatiello
“the birth of steel” , 2015 drawing on paper , 160cmx110cm, Photo Angelo Sabatiello
“Study of the butterfly’s movement in a closed space”, 2015, drawing on paper
nuvola gonfiata , 2012 drawing on paper, 160cmx110cm, Photo by Angelo Sabatiello
Probability (Apollo XIII), 2016, drawing on paper, 170x110cm,
The Secret of Gutenberg, 2016, drawing on paper, 180x106cm
HOLISTIC
Toward a holistic Art
Donato Piccolo is one of the most remarkable artists of his generation, both in Italy and on the international scene. He collaborates since several years with Galerie Mario Mazzoli in Berlin, a unique space dedicated to the artistic exploration of sound and physical processes associated to it. In this very peculiar context, where art, science and philosophy are conceived of in an inseparable way, the artist unveils to us his latest new works. (It is in this very special context where art, science and philosophy are considered so inseparable that the artist unveils to us all his latest new works) Mist, clouds, vapor, whirlwinds constitute some on the visual signatures of the artist, whose personality is reminiscent of the ancient figure of Empedocles, at the same time poet, engineer, philosopher and thaumaturge; a hero, who according to the legend was driven to disappear in the gloomy clouds of Etna by his quest for an ultimate truth. Indeed a number of sculptures / installations by the artist seem to invite us to penetrate with our sight at the heart of a thick fog, in view of an experience at once spellbinding and silent: a kind of art that seeks, according to him, not to replicate a potentially lethal phenomenon, but to transmute a "physical process" into a "mental state." The cloud is the constant figure starting from which everything appears, happens, and then disappears again. It is the cradle of all things. It is also the veil that envelops physical phenomena and hides from our eyes their origin as their ultimate foundation. Here, our mind and senses adjust gradually to the diapason of the bubbling and turbulence of the substance until they resonate with it. In order to induce such a peculiar resonance phenomenon , most of the artist's works combine two complementary and inseparable aspects: they are at the same time sculptures and machines, forms and processes. According to Donato Piccolo, this hybrid character constitutes the actual nature of ÂŤholistic artÂť: an art whose essential function is to explore "the incomprehensible mystery of the visible world".
This exhibition is dedicated to Prof. Alfonso Sutera, a recently deceased Italian physicist and meteorologist who was friends with the artist. It is as if Donato Piccolo chose to honor his memory by generating phenomena that he had spent his life observing and describing. A star fluttering under a glass bell; eggs in the process of incubating; a man-machine (whose physiognomy resembles that of a young Da Vinci) frantically drawing; a transparent sphere decomposing the noise surrounding a complex architecture of iridescent bubbles; collages- assemblages of images; words and luminous graphics; cloudy, large-sized landscapes... It is possible to classify the works outlined above in two distinct and complementary categories: there are those that detect and record a signal and those that emit one. The exhibition space, therefore, is put under tension as an energy circuit in which each piece plays a specific role: relay , resistor, capacitor, amplifier ... Or else: incubator, tomb, celestial obser-
“BE2 (Butterfly Effect 2”, drawing on paper 160x 105cm
vatory ... By m u l ti p l yi n g a p p r o a c h e s, vi e w p o i n ts a s w e l l a s te ch n i q u e s ( p a i n ti n g , co l l a g e , s cu l p tu r e , i n sta l l a ti o n ) D o n a to P i cc o l o d r a w s th e e vo l u ti o n a r y m a p o f a dynamic landscape. Here, the lines and shapes are not used to outline contours but rather to comprehend trajectories, to confine explosions that are just as well blossomings. At any moment we follow the trace of a fluttering butterfly, the jerky movement of a hand, the Brownian motion of particles in suspension, the progressive fragmentation of a soap bubble or the slow waving of smoke rings. As we evoke the various processes at work—condensation, distillation, sublimation...—we cannot avoid imagining that perhaps these clouds are those that emerge from the athanor (the cosmic furnace of alchemists), that which not only transforms the matter and the conception that we have it, but also our spirit and the vision we have of ourselves. David Rosenberg - Paris 2014
Installation view at Stadtgalerie , Museum of Kiel
“Leonardo dreams clouds”, 2014 (detail)
“Leonardo dreams clouds”, 2014 "”A realistic reproduction of the face of " Warrior " of Leonardo da Vinci " , considered by some critics as the true portrait of Genius , he moves his lips and expels smoke at random times " kinetic sculpture, latex, oil, aluminum, smoke machine. motors, electronics, 120 x 45 x 23 cm, photo A. Sabatiello
Sebastiano (The night owl), 2014 kinetic sculpture, platinum latex, oil, aluminum,electric system. motors, electronics, 160h x 90 x 60 cm photo by A. Sabatiello
Sebastiano (The night owl), 2014 " A sculpture inspired by the model of portrait of " Leonardo da Vinci " who is carrying on the back some mechanical arms ,which are equipped with markers at the end, and constantly drawing on the back of the sculpture . This work underlines the relationship between nature and artifice , between mechanics and representation of reality " kinetic sculpture, platinum latex, oil, aluminum,electric system. motors, electronics, 160h x 90 x 60 cm photo by Angelo Sabatiello
“Leonardo dreams Galileo”, 2014 oil on canvas, 173cmx127cm photo A. Sabatiello
“machine for creation of clouds,” 2015, drawing on paper, 106x154cm
“Studio about a cloud”, 2014 oil on canvas, 225cmx135cm
“The collector of clouds”, 2014 oil on canvas, 235cmx145cm
“A star blocked in 1930 �, 2015 A star is imprisoned in a given space (in the bell jar). It moves randomly with casual movements led, glass, electric system, wood, tripod of 1930, 135x40x35cm photo by M. Spanghero
“I cathced a star�, 2014 A star is imprisoned in a given space (in the bell jar). It moves randomly with casual movements kinetic sculpture, led light, electric circuits, wood, iron, 125 h x 25 x 25 cm
“Project for a flying star” 2014 drawing, spray, carbon and pen on card board, 120 x 168 cm, Photo by Philine von Düszeln.
“The birth of the sky”, 2014 drawing and mini-neon on card board, 120 x 201 cm , Photo by Philine von Düszeln
“Probability of the vacuum in a vacuum space”, 2016 mixed media on card board, 120 x 180 cm , Photo by Philine von Düszeln.
“Philosophical thought” , 2014 Installation view at Macro Museum, Rome "Mechanical arms move and constantly beat a spray placed at their ends by creating unexpected drawings. This sculpture tries to focus attention on the concept of "life drawing". mechanical arm, electronic system, spray, wood
"Mechanical arms move and constantly beat a spray placed at their ends by creating unexpected drawings. This sculpture tries to focus attention on the concept of "life drawing".
“Philosophical thought� , 2014 (Detail) mechanical arm, electronic system, spray, wood
“Philosophical thought” , 2014 Installation view at Macro Museum, Rome mechanical arm, electronic system, spray, wood
“Philosophical thought” , 2014 Installation view at Macro Museum, Rome mechanical arm, electronic system, spray, wood
“Symphonic stochastic Arms”, 2014 drawing on paper, dim. 100x70cm
“symphonic stochastic (Project)”, 2014 drawing on paper, dim. 120x175cm
“the nature of things is strange”, 2015 drawing on paper, dim. 106x155cm
“the life starts always from there�, 2015 drawing on paper, dim. 100x70cm
unnatural
Installation view Mart Museum, Rovereto “kick in the emptiness (Dialogue between chief systems)�, 2014 A mechanical foot, controlled by an electronic circuit, that kicks at variable times a thin sheet of plexiglass. The sculpture is connected to a sound system that amplifies the sound of the moving foot by creating so a mantra with different shades shoe, electronic system, motors, plexiglass, steel, microphone, speaker pre-amplifier, dim. 100x90x80cm photo by A. Sabatiello
“kick in the emptiness (Dialogue between chief systems)”, 2014 "A mechanical foot, controlled by an electronic circuit, that kicks at variable times a thin sheet of plexiglass. The sculpture is connected to a sound system that amplifies the sound of the moving foot by creating so a mantra with different shades " shoe, electronic system, motors, plexiglass, steel, microphone, speaker pre-amplifier, dim. 100x90x80cm photo by A. Sabatiello
“Unnatural”, 2015 "A mechanical foot constantly hits an artificial plant. By doing this it creates a relationship between a mechanical and natural process " shoe,electronic system, motors, plexiglass, steel, artificial plant. dim. 100x40x50cm photo by A.Sabatiello
“Unnatural�, 2015 shoe,electronic system, motors, plexiglass, steel, artificial plant. dim. 100x40x50cm
Inside Tesla
In Rome, on top of the hill that dominates the Tiburtina Railway Station, at the end of a long and winding road, behind a crooked and rusty metal door, lies a neglected garden where weeds and wild flowers grow. An open shed and a building with paint peeling of its faรงade serve as the laboratory and workshop of the Italian artist Donato Piccolo. Hatching eggs, explosions, electric arcs, magnetic fields and clouds constitute the recurring motives in his work. With variations, among others, on the theme of electromagnetism and the forces of nature, his entire work, according to him, consists in the transmutation of a "physical process" into "a mental state". The present exhibition is dedicated to the memory of the great Nikola Tesla, the unrivaled physicist and inventor, who was born on a stormy day in July 1856 at the border that separated Croatia and Serbia at the time, and died bankrupted in 1943 in a hotel in New York. In between these two dates, a life of hard work and discoveries of all kinds, a frantic pursuit of the secrets of nature resulting in hundreds of patents and countless inventions (such as the principles of the electron microscope, the radar, remote control, the asynchronous electric motor, etc.). It was also Tesla who won the battle with Edison, of developing a system of distribution of alternating current that would change the world. His major work however, the Magnum Opus of Tesla, was his research into a limitless source of free energy - a mystery he almost solved - a source that would flow from everywhere in the universe. It's precisely this unfinished quest, this unparalleled dream that is being revived by the artist in a philosophical and metaphorical way. In a sense, it is as if Donato Piccolo chose to honor the memory of Tesla by painting, sculpting and generating the phenomena that the latter had spent his life observing and trying to decipher. A butterfly fluttering beneath a glass clock, a magnetic flower, crackling lightning, an electric portrait of the scientist, electrical impulses, light paths, impact marks, jerking leg movements, ... In short, a larger whole teeming with life and energy. In this way the exhibition space has been powered as if it were an electrical circuit in which every work plays a precise role: relay, resistor, capacitor, alternator, amplifier, ... In his own way, Donato Piccolo, has reiterated the mantra of the scientist - "that man should harmonize his energy technologies with the greater machinery of nature"- applying it to Art and the domain of Thought. The last patent registered by Tesla involved "an airplane taking of vertically" - an invention of which the title could very well serve as "a portrait of the artist and his works".
David Rosenberg, Paris 2015
“The tin revolition�, 2015, drawing and iron on paper, 45x32cm
“Fanta-Science”, 2014 A c a n of Fa nta e m it s v is ible light ning t o t he e y e . This s c ulptur e is a m e t a phor f or t he r e la t ions hip be t we e n a r t a nd s c ie nc e . c a n o f Fa n ta , e l e c tr o n i c sy ste m , Te sl a c o i l , ti m e r, b i r c h w o o d . d i m . 9 0 x 3 5 x 3 5 c m Photo by E.Tumminello
“Tesla crash-machine”, 2015 , drawing on paper, 200x140cm
“Tesla machine”, 2015 , drawing and mixed media on paper, 160x106cm
“Vegetable Tesla coil”, 2015, drawing on paper, dim. 245x145cm
“The eye of Tesla�, 2015 A painting of a portrait of the famous scientist Nikola Tesla is hit constantly , at random intervals , from electric shock
generated by a Tesla coil (the actual device it's been invented by the scientist itself) oil on canvas, steel, wood, tesla coil, electric system, timer, 50x70x10cm photo A. Sabatiello
“The eye of Tesla�, 2015 A painting of a portrait of the famous scientist Nikola Tesla is hit constantly , at random intervals , from electric shock
generated by a Tesla coil (the actual device it's been invented by the scientist itself) oil on canvas, steel, wood, tesla coil, electric system, timer, 50x70x10cm photo A. Sabatiello
“Annunciation (version I)” 2015 A Tesla’s coil produces a sound through electrical discharges modulated by different frequency. A lamp of neon will turn on in relation to that sound. This sculpture takes inspiration to the classic image of the annunciation, which is a theme used in the classical painting. china neon, tesla, electric system simulator, dimmer,trasformer high voltage, 50x50x30cm, photo A. Sabatiello
“The Butterfly�, 2013-2015 a butterfly flaps wings continuously in a given space. It moves randomly with casual movements. glass, electric system, wood, steel, timer,, 90x30x30cm, photo A. Sabatiello
“Shine”, 2016, drawing on paper, 170x110cm
“Theory of Nambu”, 2016, drawing on paper, 110x180cm
esthetics of an explosion
“Spider Man�, 2015 Performance and installation view at Macro Museum in Rome Seven helicopters built to transport some pure potassium, who is a highly reactive element to air and water, are flying around the audience at Macro Museum in Rome and then fall into a pool, who is built especially for the event, by creating an explosion . Each explosion varies in relation to the amount of potassium that transports each helicopter. The goal of this performance is to transform an explosion in to an aesthetic element . The explosion becomes an emotion and therefore a work of art. helicopters, pure Potassium, swimming pool, water, audio system, microphones, speakers. Photo by Sebastiano Luciano
The goal of this performance is to transform an explosion in to an aesthetic element .
“Project for helicopter’s explosion”, 2014 drawing, collage on paper, 45x32cm
“Explosion of “General Electric” , 2015, drawing on paper, 165x108cm
“Explosion “ 2015 , Lungo Crati , Cosenza, photo Fabio Costantino Macis
“Explosion “ 2015 , Lungo Crati , Cosenza, photo Fabio Costantino Macis
“Tesla’s Natural Mind”, 2015, drawing and leavs on paper 170x110cm
“The butterfly’s movement II”, 2015, drawing and mini neon on paper, 160x110cm
“Explosion of a cloud”, 2013, drawing and mini neon on paper, 195x115cm
Donato Piccolo Rome 1976
Solo Exhibit ions (selection) 2016 “Butterfly Effect” , curated by Isabella Indolfi, The Church of SS Giovanni and Paolo, Festival dei due Mondi, Spoleto, Italy 2015 “Inside Tesla”, curated by David Rosemberg, Feizi Gallery, Brussels (BE), Shanghai (CHN) 2014 “Spider Man” , curated da G. Gigliotti and A. Dambruso, Macro Museum, Museum of contemporary Art in Rome, Italy "Holistic", curated by David Rosenberg, Galerie Mario Mazzoli, Berlin 2012 “Butterfly Effect”, Deanesi gallery, Mart Museum, Rovereto, Italy 2010 "Instabile reversibile” curated by Marc Wellmann, Galerie Mario Mazzoli, Berlin , Germany “Reversible Mechanisms”,curated by Lidya Pribisova, Space Gallery, flash art space, Bratislava 2009 "Meccanismi d'Instabilità” curated by Anne-Marie Sauzeau Boetti and Laura Cherubini, Festival dei due Mondi, Casa Romana, Spoleto , Italy “Avant et Devenir”, Gallery Riff Art Projects, Paris-Istanbul 2007 "WORTER" curated by Mario de Candia, Stefania Miscetti Gallery, Rome, Italy “Storia di un non nato” , curated by L. Bolis, Maretti Arte Monaco, Monaco, Montecarlo 2006 “Ipercorpo”, Valerio Riva Foundation, Venice, Italy 2005 "Housekeeping" curated by R.Gavarro, Soligo art Project, Rome, Italy 2004 “Cuore2/Dirty” (feat G. Occhionero), curated by M. Morollòn, Rayapunto Gallery, Salamanca, Spain 2003 “Lello Secondo Moretti”, curated by C. Casorati, Rome, Italy 2002 “Il Giornale di un solo Giorno”, performance in Rome, Italy
Group Exhibitions (selection) 2016 “The Collection”, Feizi Gallery, Brussels (BE), Shanghai (CHN) “Cataclisma”, explosion in LungoCrati, collaboration project with Shingo Inao, BoCs Cosenza, Italy 2015 “Impatto 2.0” curated by L. Celeghin and I. Magni, Museum of Este, Este (Padova), Italy “Praestigium Italia II”, Cini Foundation Venice, Venice Italy “Imago Mundi”, Luciano Benetton collection, curated by L. Beatrice, Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Turin, Italy “Luce retta, calore freddo, suono visibile” (feat Maurizio Mochetti), Bibo’s Gallery, Todi, Italy 2014 “Digital Life” curated by M. Vaute and D. Spano’, Macro Museum in Rome, Italy “Rumore Bianco” , curated by A. Bruciati, Assab One ,Milano , Italy "Vestige", Fondation Francès, Senlis, France "TRANSIENTE", NODE FESTIVAl, Galleria Civica, Modena 2013 "The Genesys", curated by D. Rosemberg and Hye jin, Beyond Museum, Seoul, Korea "Turbulence II", curated by D. Rosemberg ,Villa Empain, Boghossian Foundation, Brussels “Images du Futur”, curated by D. Quaranta, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan , Italy DIGITAL LIFE-Liquid Landscapes, curated by D. Spano and M. Vaute, MACRO Museum Testaccio, Rome, Italy "Le ragioni della pittura. Esiti e prospettive di un medium", curated by L. Cherubini and E. Viola Fondazione Malvina Menegaz, Palazzo de Sanctis, Castelbasso. Italy "The naturalists", curated by P.B. Miller, Castelluccio di Pienza-La Foce, Chianciano Terme (SI), Italy 2012 “Turbulences II” curated by David Rosemberg, foundation Boghossian, Brussels, Belge “A Sign on the road said: take us to madre” , project by Marc Schmitt, Center of culture Helper, New York , USA Museum of Genazzano, curated by P. Weiermaier, K. Wolbert, N. Nobis and C.L. Pisano, Genazzano Rome, Italy “P e ri p l o d e l l a S cu l tu ra c o n te mp o ra n e a 3 ” , c u ra te d b y Gi u se p p e A p p e l a e Ma rta R a g o z zi n o , Mu s e u m o f sc u l p tu re , Ma tera, Italy
“Bios”, Georg-Kolbe Museum , curated by Marc Wellman, Berlin, Ge rmany Museum Biedermann, curated by Simon Jung and VAF Foundation, Donaueschingen, Germany “M.I.T.” , Auditorium of Rome, curated by Santa Sangre, Rome, Italy “Italienische Kunst Heute” , StadtGalerie Museum, curated by Peter Weiermaiar, V.A.F. Foundation, Museum of Kiel , Kiel, Germany “Valentiny Contemporary”, curated by Damiana Leoni, Palazzo Valentini , Rome, Italy 2011 “Costruzione di una metafisica dell’assenza” curated by Elena Abbiatici e Valentina G. Levy, p.zza dei ricci , Rome, Italy After the crash, curated by Camilla Boemio, Orto Botanico, Rome 54ma Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte, La Biennale di Venezia, cu rated by Vittorio Sgarbi, Italia Pavillion -, Palazzo Venezia, Rome Affrontare il rosso/Facing the red, (artist-s book), cu r a t e d b y E l e n a Gi u lia Rossi, Café Europe/Centro di arte contemporanea, Rome Artefiera Bologna, Roma-The road to contemporary art, Art Amsterdam 2010 Buon Domani/ a better tomorrow, Stefania Miscetti Gallery, Rome “ 11 M o s tr a In te r n a ci o n a l Ga s N a tu r a l Fe n o sa ” , M AC U F, M u se o d e Ar te C o n te mp o r á n e o Ga s N a tural Fenosa in Coruña “Entre Glace et Neige. Processi ed energie della natura” curated b y L a u r a C h e r u b i n i a n d G l o rianda Cipolla, Centre Saint Benin, Aosta Contemporary Art Instanbul, Riff Art Project, Istanbul“Take the Space” curated by Patrizia Ferri, Palazzo della Vicaria, Trapani 2009 "Physical Conditions gallery crawl" curated by Murray H o r n e , W o o d S t r e e t G a l l e r y, P i t t s b u r g h ( U SA) "Fondazione Spinola Banna per l’Arte Contemporanea” worksh o p cu rated by Gail Chocraine and Luca Vitone, Turin "Amore e Psiche" curated by Miriam Mirolla, Rocca Albornoziana, Spoleto "Usine de reves” curated by Cecilia Casorati and Sabrina Vedovotto, 26cc Center of Contemporary Art, Rome 2008 " We l l D a r l i n g , I a c t " A r t w o r k w i t h M a u r i z i o M o c h e t t i , S t u d i o Boetti G a l l e r y, R o m e " S i m b o l i di Ferro, Falce e Martello", Museum of Contemporary Art, L'Aquila"Le temp au temp", Riff Art Project Gallery, Strasburg "Here come the Rolling bones", curated by Piero Pala and Benedetta di Loreto, Studio Boetti Gallery, Rome 2007
"Sex is a pain in the ass" curated by Piero Pala, Cinema Avorio, R o m e "In v i te " cu r a te d b y B e n e d e tta d i L o r e to a n d D a m i a n a L e o n i , i n stallation by “Bulgari” in Rome 52ma Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte, La Biennale di Venezia, Arabian Republic Pavillon, curated by Duccio Trombadori, Chiostro di S.Francesco della Vigna, Venice "The Cross" Public sculpture, Parco Maria Callas, Sirmione- Gardasee 2006 “Memoria: tracce“ curated by Piero Pala - Palazzo Rialto Santambrogio, Rome “A pelle”, curated by P. Ferri, MarettiarteMonaco, Montecarlo “Nerve” curated by Mario de Candia and Patrizia Ferri, Huynnart stu dio, Rome “K-Event” Performance curated by Fabio Cavallucci, KunstArt, Bozen Biennale Adriatica Arti Nuove, curated by Antonio Arèvalo and Cristiano Seganfreddo - Museo di San Benedetto del Tronto "Contemporaneamente" curated by Bruno di Marino and Patrizia Ferri, Artefiera Project - Parma "In Memoria di Valerio Riva" Maretti Prize, Repubblica di San Marino 2005 “ Sh o r t M o v i e Fe s ti v a l ” J u r y p r e i s ( Ab e l Fe r ra r a ) w i th th e Fi l m “ L’ 8 vi z i o ” i n co l l a b o r a ti o n w i th C l a u dio Stirlani, Rome “Prize Armellini Foandation”, sculpture in Piazza Mondo, Rome Maretti Prize ( winner), Museum of Rep.San Marino 2003 "Cuore 2/Dirty" curated by Manolo Morollòn, Galeria Rayapunto , Salamanca "LELLO SECONDO MORETTI", Art Project, Rome “III Biennale Internazionale del Libro d’artista” curated by Mario de Candia, Loredana Rea, Ivana D’agostino, Città di Cassino 2002 “Il giornale di Un Solo Giorno” Performance with sculpture, Rome
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donato piccolo
“Big dildo”, 2016, sculpture of papier-mache, iron, fiberglass, 18m x4m x4 meters “A reproduction of a satellite takes another meaning in today’s reality...”