Pietà Rondanini

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Castello Sforzesco, Milan

April 2012

“An unfinished sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti”: this was my knowledge before entering the Milanese Castle, last Easter. Michelangelo worked on this “Pietà” until a few days before his death.
Two sculptures, between the most famous he did, are about the same subjects, now conserved in Florence (top) and Rome (below).

The Pietà Rondanini has something completely different: it is unique.

The scene represents the death of Christ, and Mary, His mother, is desperately embracing and holding up his lifeless body.The composition evolves vertically and it is sensational how, from different angulations, seems that the body of Christ is holding his mother.

Personally I felt like staring at the most beautiful way to face love, sacrifice and suffering. In a painful situation we can either be angry and scream at it, or believe in the possibility to sustain and being sustained, as Michelangelo described here.

Reference

Howard Hibbard, Michelangelo ( London : Allan Lane, 1975)

Ludwig Goldscheider, Michelangelo : paintings, sculptures, architecture (London : Phaidon Press,1953)

Ludwig Goldscheider, The sculptures of Michelangelo, ( London : Allen & Unwin, 1940)

Paper Lover

The internet is my favourite form of Yellow Pages, you can find as soon as you want the most of what you need but not everything can be communicated though this media, some emotion will always come from a more physical reality.

Can you touch the rough or lucid texture? Can you smell the brand new plastic scent or the antique dusty smell?
Can you feel free to cry uninterruptedly knowing that your tears are all going to be saved and absorbed?

This short post is completely dedicate to who, like me, is definitely in love with Paper.


My passion started around the 2400 B.C, in the Ancient Egypt, when my mum (primary school teacher), after a day-trip with her pupils, brought me a piece of papyrus. I felt like it was the most precious thing in the Universe.
In it there is already a story, it belonged to someone else and now it was mine, to be treasured.


This is how paper was considered before the 18th century, when Nicholas Luis Robert initiated its mass production.


If you are in London and are sharing the same interest I suggest you to go in the fulcrum of this history that is now becoming a niche passion:






Shepherds Fakiners - 



Fedrigoni Uk Showroom - Situated in London's Hatton Garden is a building that goes by the name of Diamond House, where three people sit in a bright room surrounded by lots and lots of paper...otherwise known as the Fedrigoni Showroom.









Reference


Jane Thomas,Paul Jackson, On paper, ( London : Merrell, 2001)


Available at <http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/papermaking.htm> [accessed at 12 January 2012]


Available at <http://www.hqpapermaker.com/paper-history/>  [accessed at 13 January 2012]

LED candles by Moritz Waldemeyer

Designboom, Shadwell

April 2012

I decided to make this post when, running through the designboom.com website I got attracted by the glint of the lights.

Every time I look at a luminous point I’m completely cached by the power of giving a sense of warmth and security. Doesn’t it?

So, here we are, speaking about a piece of design by Moritz Waldemeyer, a contemporary engineer and designer that works with a mix of art, fashion and technology style.

Light is the material he works with, a successful way to grab attention and ultimately leave space to imagination. Looking at the candles I started to imagine a place to stand and live floating in the light.
It is a long journey to reach that light but if that is place that you want to reach nothing can stop you. A floating, a bird attack, someone is trying to pull your feet down but the charm of that group flights is too attractive. They are there and I am sure that my happiness is in reaching them.

In my research I find out that one of his projects was exposed in the V&A British Design Exhibition: a fascinating dress made of colored LED lights. (Another good reason to go to have a look at it!)

Reference

[Sculpture] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://thecreatorsproject.com/videos/moritz-waldemeyer/media/light-sculptures> [Accessed 1 March 2012]

[Hussein Chalayan] n.d. [video online] Available at: < http://thecreatorsproject.com/videos/moritz-waldemeyer/media/hussein-chalayan-2008-ss-show> [Accessed 1 March 2012]

[video online] Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5hktcTwDGxw> [Accessed 23 March 2012]

The Carved Book Landscapes

Yatzer.com, Shadwell

April 2012

This morning, wondering “what shall I visit today?”, I got lost in the "art hunting" routine.

I ended up on http://yatzer.com, a global website for fine art and applied arts. It contains unique and contemporary inspiration about Design, Architecture, Exhibitions, Travel and Interviews.

The artist that became part of my knowledge is the Canadian Guy Laramèe.

In his career he has been practicing numerous disciplines as theater, music, video, scenography, sculpture, installation, painting and literature.

I have always cherished a passion for books, and I felt an immediate correspondence between knowledge and beauty. In his statement the Artist defines the books as “mountains of disused knowledge (that) return to what they really are: mountains. (...) Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply IS. Fogs and clouds erase everything we know, everything we think we are” (Artist Statement).

In the engaging article "Interview with Guy Laramèe" (Benjamin van Loon, 2012) there is a profound dialogue that amplifies and questions existential dilemmas as progresses, ideologies, contemporary art, conceptualization, difference between ideas and concept, and more.

I got sincerely struck by the passion in which he spurs the reader to create: "There is a world outside ideas, and if art still needs a mission, here’s one: to get ourselves back into this sense of presence. Making us more alive. That does not mean to stop thinking, which is impossible, but it means putting thinking into perspective." (Guy Laramèe, 2012)

His work are exposed in the Foster White Gallery, Seattle, and the Lacerte Art Contemporain, Quèbec.

Reference

Available at: <http://guylaramee.com/index.php?/info/bio/> [Accessed 24 February 2012]

Available at: <http://www.guylaramee.com/index.php?/intro/> [Accessed 24 February 2012]

Available at: <http://blog.the-dot.co.uk/design/carved-book-landscapes-by-guy-laramee/>  [Accessed 24 February 2012]


Available at: <http://anobiumlit.com/2012/04/18/interview-with-guy-laramee-artist-part-1/> [Accessed 25 February 2012]




IL Riformista, Altro che e-book con Laramée il libro si fa scultura, DI ANITA TANIA GIUGA

[The cloud of unknowing] n.d. [image online] Availavle at: <http://guylaramee.com/index.php?/lineage/the-cloud-of-unknowing/> [Accessed 24 February 2012]

[Landscapes] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://yatzer.com/carved-book-landscapes-Guy-Laramee> [Accessed 25 February 2012]

Up and coming Artist

I will dedicate this post to the person that introduced me to her burning passion and that fascinated me so much to make me become part of it.

A 23 years old italian girl, Francesca Schgor studied in Brera Accademy, Milan, and is now attending a Master in Fine Art in the Wimbledon College of Art.

The Master research is focused on the study of the human feeling "shame".
It is humanly considered as a negative aspect, even the physical reaction is to hide ourself, but if it is part of the human nature, is there any possibility for it to be an instrument to extend the knowledge of our own identity?


The sequence of images posted are the artistic process that is leading her research to a deepen understanding of this intimate, and unseen, awaking desire.



"Box" (2011)

Box (2012), mixed media

"Body Gesture" Study (2011)

Body Gesture 1 (2012), 30x40 cm, pencil and watercolor on paper

Body Gesture 4 (2012), 30x40 cm, pencil and watercolor on paper

"Blush" Series (2011)

Blush 10 (2012), 25x25 cm, wax

Blush 3 (2012), 50x50 cm, wax

Blush 1 (2012), 50x50 cm, wax 

Blush 7 (2012), 25x25 cm, wax

"Stories of Shame" (2012)

Stories of shame (2012), cm, plexiglass

What is keeping me so tight to this research is that it is teaching me how infinite are the possibilities to understand what I desire. Questions are coming out from every aspect of our humanity: the problem now is my desperate seeking for an answer.

British Design 1948-2012

“British Design 1948-2012. Innovation in the modern age” is an exhibition, sponsored by Ernest & Young agency, which celebrates “the best of British post-war art and design from the 1948 ‘Austerity Games' to the present day.”

I walked in intending to read and understand everything, but I was not enjoying it at all, so I decided to stand back and simply look at what, in my opinion, was interesting.

It is not necessary an analytical approach to fall into the atmosphere of the rooms, but is necessary to let yourself be touched by what surrounds you.

I would define it as a retrospective of the British culture in modernism and post-modernism, conceptual and contemporary time. I truly admire the way in witch the curators, Christopher Breward and Ghislaine Wood, expressed the passages between the ages: the music, the costumes, the magazines, the transports, the Church, the city, the arts, everything is detailed and in chronological order to give the sensation of living sixty years in three hours.

If you want to experience it I wish you all to go and have a look, it will be on till the 12 august 2012!

Reference



Higgot, Andrew, Making it New: the discourses of architecture and modernism in Britain ( London: Routledge, 2010)


Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9169611/British-Design-1948-2012-Innovation-in-the-Modern-Age-at-the-VandA.html> [Accessed 13 February 2012]


Available at: <http://www.designweek.co.uk/home/blog/british-design-from-1948-innovation-in-the-modern-age-at-the-va/3034302.article> [Accessed 13 February 2012]


Available at: <http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts-and-culture/night-and-day/7803828/the-vanda-shows-why-we-should-be-proud-of-british-design.thtml> [Accessed 13 February 2012]


Available at: <http://www.londondesignguide.com/2012/03/exhibition-british-design-1948-2012-at-va-museum/> [Accessed 13 February 2012]


Available at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/mar/23/best-british-design?newsfeed=true> [Accessed 13 February 2012]


[Innovation in the Modern Age] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9169611/British-Design-1948-2012-Innovation-in-the-Modern-Age-at-the-VandA.html> [Accessed 13 February 2012]

Semiotics

This post is about an interesting factor of the nature and knowledge of reality. 


What is Semiotic and why is it prominent nowadays?


Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols (the literal, physical and vocal meaning of the words or objects) and the meaning that you, with your biography and background, associate to it.

In university, during a lecture, my professor pointed out the use of the words as a sound, detaching them from the meaning. If I have to think about a language that I do not know it is easy to figure it out. The comedian Carl Barron uses this concept to entertain his public. In one of his sketched he said: "Word is the noise for word" (Barron, 2006). From that moment I started to listen to the words having in mind that they are sounds that have been chosen for me to be able to have an opinion, a voice.

A brilliant example of semiotic in the art field is the "Blabla table and chairs" by Delphine Boel.
The Belgian Artist communicates the importance of identity and of communication playing with the meaning of the words and the objects.


I found her piece effective and, in a playful way, able to decisive reflection.

Can we identify communication as the currency of the world?

What is a coffee table? What do I use it for?

What does my imprint says about me and my identity? Why is it golden?

What about if my identity is stolen by someone else? Is it not me anymore?

Can Art become a form of identity?

   

Reference:

Paul Cobley, Introducing semiotics ( Thriplow : Icon, 2004)

Umberto Eco, A theory of semiotics ( London : Macmillan, 1977)

Available at: <http://www.delphineboel.com/details.php?portfolio=yes&id=83> [Accessed 16 February 2012]

Damien Hirst

Gagosian, King’s Cross,

March 2012

The steward opened the door and directly in front of us, the first canvas stood imperiously. Thousands of coloured, spots placed with geometrical discipline within the rectangular grid of the canvas.

The first reaction was pure joy. The shiny and brilliant colours where sympathetic to me but I wanted to know the real nature of that spots. My friend said to me: “Each color has its chemical composition, each one of them has been chosen, placed particularly and you will never find two spots with the same intensity.”

She introduced a new point of view.

I started to think about their diversity and I looked at the pictures as a representation of the relationship between people. We are all different individuals with various stories and personalities, in a place and determinate space where to live (size canvas). At the same time is not strict in the relationships, it can refers to the characteristics and preferences that each one of us have.

Each painting creates a relationship between the humanity and the space/place/time where it is disposed.

Curiosity: on his website is it possible to enjoy in live feed what is happening in his Studio!

 

Reference

Damien Hirst, The Agony and the Ecstasy, (Napoli: Electa, 2004)

Available at: <http://www.damienhirst.com/texts/1997/feb--sarah-borruso>[Accessed 16 April 2012]

Available at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/mar/11/damien-hirst-tate-retrospective-interview>[Accessed 16 April 2012]

Available at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/apr/17/damien-hirst-favourite-art-in-pictures>[Accessed 16 April 2012]

Available at: <http://www.quora.com/How-can-the-spot-paintings-of-Damien-Hirst-be-interpreted>[Accessed 17 April 2012]

[Damien Hirst Exhibition] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Press+View+Latest+Damien+Hirst+Exhibition>[Accessed 16 April 2012]

[Damien Hirst Exhibition] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Press+View+Latest+Damien+Hirst+Exhibition+ofGuTo0tcTel.jpg>[Accessed 16 April 2012]

[Damien Hirst Exhibition] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Press+View+Latest+Damien+Hirst+Exhibition+PJEs7Add2rjl.jpg>[Accessed 16 April 2012]

[Damien Hirst Exhibition] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://qph.cf.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-a0d0ce550a3543b60ecc13375ca8efd9>[Accessed 16 April 2012]

[Damien Hirst Exhibition] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www.luxury-insider.com/uploads/news/2012/01/damien-hirst-spot-paintings-at-gagosian-gallery_4.jpg?width=600>[Accessed 17 April 2012]

[Damien Hirst Exhibition] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://archaesthetic.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/damien-hirst-big-scale-spot-painting.jpg>[Accessed 17 April 2012]