2023-07-03 11:38:47
Art and science as “sources of mutual inspiration in a timeless dialogue symbolized by the octagon”, recurring in Frederick’s culture and already present in the Arab-Norman one. “150-93 VIII” is the site-specific installation by Edoardo Dionea Cicconi, positioned in the center of the Cortile Maqueda of Palazzo Reale in Palermo: it follows the radial geometry of the pavement. An octagonal prism that manifests two identities between day and night: metamorphosis at dusk. During the day, the work absorbs the sun creating a play of mirrors. In the dark the mirrors dissolve into transparency. Illuminating at night, the large slabs recreate the effect of the aurora borealis. Edoardo Dionea Cicconi is the protagonist of “Pionieri della Cultura #2”, the laboratories of the Federico II Foundation with scholars and artists, committed to safeguarding culture from the risk of extinction. The event is scheduled at Palazzo Reale tomorrow, for the occasion the installation will be unveiled and will be usable until 20 August.
The Roman artist recovers the link between art and science because even today the schism between scientific culture and humanistic culture, already denounced in 1959 by Charles Percy Snow, does not seem to have been healed. Cicconi, who has exhibited, among others, also in Mexico, the United States, Georgia, England, Austria and Lithuania, relates matter and light, continuing his research between art, science and the issues related to “space” and “time”. He studies the relationship between matter and form, one of the great obsessions of 20th century art. In his works, matter is an artistic medium, but it is also a creative expedient to investigate the essence of matter in dialogue with the theories of physics. But there’s more: Cicconi’s works take into consideration the relationship of transformation of matter with the surrounding reality.
“150-93 VIII” is an example: the name itself is a code that recalls the distance between the Earth and the Sun. 150 million kilometers and 93 million miles. If this distance changed by a small amount, it would throw off the balance probably destroying all life on planet Earth. The impact that the Sun has on the earth is gigantic: it originates solar storms and some parts of plasma, which arrive on the earth through magnetic fields, create an atomic overhang and generate colors in the sky, the “polar light”. Sunlight and the movements of the Earth determine the seasons, day and night, and a myriad of chain reactions that impact our lives every day.
The slabs that make up the sculpture are opaque and mirror during the day, almost symbolizing shields. With their mirrors they reflect all the surrounding space, conversing with it. At night, the transformation takes place so the slabs begin to dissolve, until they become transparent. Previously they delimited the space like shields, now they acquire a meaning of openness and become a place of welcome. The sculpture incorporates an octagonal multiple, the space is built following a precise geometric sequence. This is developed later through the golden section.
“The Federico II Foundation – says Gaetano Galvagno, president of Ars and of the Federico II Foundation – explores a contemporary artistic language capable of bringing art and science closer together and arousing interest in young people. Edoardo Dionea Cicconi’s work puts the Palace, the visitors and the surrounding reality in dialogue with continuous connections between the past, present and future”. “The relationship between matter and form – says the director general of the Federico II Foundation, Patrizia Monterosso – is one of the great obsessions of 20th century art. Form, space, matter, perception constitute the fulcrum of a profound reflection on the artistic experience. In Edoardo Dionea Cicconi’s work, matter is an artistic medium, but it is also a creative expedient to investigate the essence of matter in dialogue with the theories of physics. This work also has the merit of stimulating the sense of wonder that we must maintain towards nature”.
#Cicconi #Royal #Palace #Palermo #sitespecific #installation #transforms #dusk