Gesso Puzzle

Francesca Malvasco
working on negative

The process of dividing the gesso negative into parts.

Photo credit: Filipa Amaro

Torino, Italy 2014

All RIGHTS RESERVED

Santo Subito

Leardo Sciacoviello
Santo Subito #3
Bronze

An interpretation of Michey Mouse´s skull in bronze.

Photo credit: Filipa Amaro

Torino, Italy 2014

All RIGHTS RESERVED

Bacon Positive

Stefano Scagliola
Young, Uncut
Cement/Resin/Prociutto

This is one of the coolest looking pieces that I saw being made this year. An original take on self-portrait. One that goes further than the mesmerizing aesthetics, further than "Il Bello." It plays with contracts of materials and concepts. 

The artist chose to make his final positive in cement, which is a risk in terms of materials because the original one in clay was so perfect that it, then, takes guts to make your final positive in such a rough material that in this case ends up working perfectly in contrast with the playful prociutto conserved inside transparent resin, inside of the head, in place of the "brain." This colorful red part also includes a rotten banana inside (I will show final picture in later post). The second contrast comes from the serious tone of the outside classic sculpture and the innovative, almost pop, inside. 

It is a fun contemporary piece of contrasts that combines the seriousness of technique and with the lightness of humor.

"I lavori che faccio sia disegni che sculture trattano il tema del sesso,in particolar modo gli aspetti del piacere e del dolore derivante dal dalla passione fisica.

Nella scultura della testa per esempio ho voluto inserire alcuni elementi che fanno parte del mio linguaggio.

Come per esempio il prosciutto crudo:per me simboleggia anche grazie al suo sapore,la sensazione di un corpo sofferente,di un piacere che ha un sapore salato e carnoso però.

La banana marcia rappresente la "morte" della sessualità.la banana infatti è un simbolo fallico(cioè simbolo del sesso maschile)

In sintesi,tratto il tema dell'omosessualità oltre che eros e thanatos.La passione fisica gay che può essere espressa al proprio amante in una stanza non trova facile traduzione concreta nella vita pubblica, poichè anche un semplice bacio può destare odio e indignazione,aspetti che vanno traducendosi in insulti, che mi portano a far coincidere la privazione della libertà sessuale di un soggetto, ad una morte interiore dello stesso perchè spersonalizzato"

Stefano Scagliola

Photo credit: Filipa Amaro
Torino, Italy 2014

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Artistically Speaking

Niccolò Calmistro
Untittled, tree root, 180X165X130cm

Most times the process of making a piece of art is more interesting than the final piece itself. 

When an artist selects an object like this and decides to conceptualize it and give it a meaning other than its original purpose, it is, for me, already a ready-made of nature. The purest of the ready-mades. No touch of men. 

The process of replacement of the piece itself could be the whole repurpose. But we, as humans, have a need of messing with nature. We want to touch it, we feel a need to change it. We cannot stop ourselves from trying to make it better or give it a purpose because we cannot be pleased. We do not know what the meaning of life is, but we are aware that we probably leave so far away from the essence of living, for which we were created, that at this point it would make sense to take magnificent pieces of nature and give it a more human-like purpose. However sometimes it works.

The artist, Niccolò, wants to change this grand piece of nature and unlike most artists he wants to give it utility. But it is still art. Because recycling this root into something more, something that can be appreciated and enjoyed is for me the greatest union between men and nature. 

But because at this point I wasn´t sure he would make this amazing raw material justice, I took this photo (I will publish the final piece later on). 

And it is with this interesting piece-in-the-making that I open this blog about The Artistic Process and mostly the relation between the artist and the materials and concept, before the object becomes part of the experience.

Photo Credit: Filipa Amaro

Torino, Italy 2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED