1970 (acrylic on canvas 50x60 cm) the numbers are - ciriaco … synthesis_of_work.pdf · numbers...
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Numbers 1970 (Acrylic on canvas 50x60 cm) The numbers are
restricted to an existence inside the grid; a structure that prevents them
from communicating with each other. These numbers are to be read as
symbolic and existential, underlining the impossibility of any relationship
existing between them.
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Numbers 1970 (Acrylic on canvas 50x70 cm)
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Wall of rocks 1985 (stones and mixed media on canvas
240x180 cm.) The background surface has become
materialised, as it is formed by a large canvas treated
with earth. tar and burned motor oil; the numbers have
become stones; there are no barriers between one stone
and the other but despite this they remain separated and
each lives in its own world, under its own conditions.
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Wall of mud 1987 (terracotta 280x210 cm.) Large scale work in
terracotta; the texture is archaic and original, obtained by the addition of
black volcanic sand to the raw paste. In this work, the tiles build up to
form a web that is held together with metal hooks. This metal element
not only holds up the whole wall but also functions symbolically to
places the pieces in relation to each other and in some way oblige them
to communicate
Detail
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Untitled 1988 (stone, metal and cables 60x40 cm.) This
same concept of interconnection is made more explicit in this
work in which pieces of stone communicate with each other
by means of a copper cable.
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Brain 1989 (installation - bitumen on canvas, copper and
lead 6m.) The subsequent step in this process reveals the
key locus where information is exchanged, in the human
brain
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Lab. 107 1990 (detail of the installation). A type of great brain
that gives out information on creation to the brains placed in
the trolleys; cables and batteries serve as sources of energy
but also of information. I have done considerable amount of
work on the theme of the brain and the means of
communication both reduced to objects of a primitive science
fiction fantasy.
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Lesson 47 - The Human Brain 1992 (performance) In this
case, the artist himself is able to work and to express himself
because he is wired up. It is not fully clear whether he is
receiving or emitting information via the dish.
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Detail of the performance
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Writings 1993 (installation in a space of 80 sq. m.,
pictures of 220x150, varnish and oil on black leather)
The next step in this ideation process is represented by
this work in a 1993 show - pictures made of black
leather with phrases in German written on them. Each
letter - which in the beginning of the artistic process were
numbers and then became stones - have become,
thanks to the development created by the work with the
brain, words when placed one next to the other. The
words, one places next to another become phrases, that
are concepts, form ideas to be communicated.
In this installation the phrases in gold or silver are
painted on a surface of leather that is printed with the
image of the Brandenburg Gate. The pictures were
shown, creating the Berlin Wall with cardboard boxes.
The physical context fits ideologically with net-marxist
phrases crested by the artist, such as The crisis is an
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artifice invented by the system to be reborn from the self and
to be equal to the self.
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Writings 1993 ( vernice e olio su pelle nera 100x150)
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Manual workers 96 1996 (Polish car scrapper,
cibachrome 220x100x10 cm)
This is a series of 20 photographs of workers, printed life
size. They all worked near to the artist‟s former studio in
the outer suburbs of Rome, an area of brick sheds with
metal and fibre cement sheet roofing.The artist wanted to
fix in memory this reality which now has for the most part
disappeared. This work underlines on the one hand the
primacy of the human being as subject in the context of
the burgeoning digital era and on the other it stands as a
counterweight to the excesses of the “posthuman” art of
the „90s: bodies dismembered and hung up … It is not
clear if the subjects represented here are models who
are presented as workers or if they are workers playing
the part of artist‟s model.
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Manual workers 96 1996 (Welder, cibachrome 220x100x10 cm)
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Manual workers 96 1996 (Car bodywork mechanic,
cibachrome 220x100x10 cm)
Installation in a private gallery
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World Food Day 1998 (installation 90 sq. m). This
installation was set up in the American Academy in Rome and
represented the head office of an organisation responsible for
dealing with the problem of world hunger, linked to the United
Nations. The artist made sacks with the symbol of the World
Food Organisation, had the bread cooked by a baker,
prepared the photographic set and made large posters giving
information about the events of16 October, a day dedicated to
the fight against world hunger.
Deliberately the photographs are made without contrast of
light and shade. Had they been presented in a
“caravaggesque” manner they would have expressed a
personal judgement on the theme of world hunger. Or they
could have made the message of World Food Day more
attractive by using the style of advertising photography -
bathed in light and with a seductive aura. The artist has
chosen a third path - without light and shade they become
pure information. Staff at the World Food Organisation in Rome
(FAO) subsequently investigated which of their offices may have
supported this exhibition.
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World Food Day 1998 – installation detail
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World Food Day 1998 (Bread, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo
paper)
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World Food Day 1998 (Flour, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo
paper)
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World Food Day 1998 (Potatoes, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo
paper)
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World Food Day 1998 (Milk, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo paper)
By Life Camp 2000 (installation – work in progress). An idealised
humanitarian camp, a “turnkey project”, set up in the the San Matteo
tower of Castel Sant‟Angelo in Rome
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By Life Camp 2000 (installation - overview - area covering 380 sq. m.)
Synthetic grass, trees and topiary with “Love” slogan and Silverhouse
tents arranged in order. At the centre is placed a stand for the
distribution of gadgets; overhead the flags of Italy and the United
Nations.
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By Life Camp 2000 (detail of the tents)
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By Life Camp 2000 (detail of the tents)
By Life Camp 2000 (advertisment)
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By Life Camp 2001 (installation 450 sq.m.) This camp was set up in
Venice at an art event linked to the Biennale. In this case, the artist has
simulated a camp set up by the Italian army. In the area of the
installation, concerned residents protested at its appearance.
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By Life Green 2001 (installation, 15 sq. m) In Rome‟s Via Margutta,
the artist created a display of “humanitarian relief camp equipment”; as
a place where all the necessary items for setting up of such a camp
could be purchased.
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By Life Shop 2000 (installation 32 sq. m.) The logo of the
United Nations is planted into this installation created at the
Museo Macro in Rome. As previously, here we are again
confronted with a simulation - a “change of use” scenario in
which a large warehouse is substituted for the museum under
reconstruction. The theme is that of department stores
selling shaman‟s coats, sponsored by the United Nations.
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By Life Shop 2000 - shop window - detail of the installation
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By Life Shop 2000 – detail of the Shaman‟s coat
Vetrine 2001 - art gallery transformed into a “By Life” shop
The back-lit window displays promote various products, including works
of the artist.
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Vetrine 2001 (shop window, aluminium with interior lighting 200x85x21
cm.)
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The best days of my life 2003 (puzzle, 17 pieces, whole 236
x 440 x 6 cm.) International intrigue is the subject of this
cheerfully titled photo-romance. It is a puzzle made up of a
series of panels that tell the story of a power struggle within
an organisation similar to the US White House.
The best days of my life 2003 Panel [caption translates as Middle
East - “come out of there, Palestinian shits” ]
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The best days of my life 2003 Panel
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The best days of my life 2003 Panel - [caption translates as Later, in
a government office “but what’s going on at Nike? ]
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The best days of my life 2003 Panel (132 x 82 x 5.5 cm) [Caption
translates as Two days later on the 18th floor of UN HQ in New York
- Norman chose this …]
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I° The European Competition of Natural Food 2004
(Silesian lard, digital print on photo paper 171 x 125 cm.)
The real and the unreal show themselves most clearly in the
Polish foods represented in these works. The foods were
bought in the Piazza Vittoria market in Rome and then were
manipulated for the art work. The photographs of the “fake
food” were printed on large panels and presented as real in
Strasbourg, at the time when Poland entered the EU. The
Polish flag is in the background of the images which show
Silesian lard (actually axle grease for agricultural machinery)
or Oleki salami (with a covering of sawdust).
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Goats’ cheese form the Solskeij Puszczy mountains 2004 (digital
print on photo paper 171 x 125 cm)
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Olecki salami 2004 (digital print on photo paper 171 x 125
cm)
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II° The European Competition of Natural Food 2005
Galleria Nazionale d‟Arte Moderna, Rome.
In this installation, the artist not only presented his invented
food that were selected for the “final” but also each of them
were given a „back-story‟ - a short documentary film that told
the story of the origin of the food and its use over the
centuries, up until their recent rediscovery in “nouvelle
cuisine”.
The food finalists were the Mecklenburg black beetroot -
the German entry; Tuscan bacon loaf for Italy and the
Norfolk Tuber for England. A committee made up of 7
members declared the winner to be the Tuscan bacon loaf.
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Tuscan bacon loaf 2005 (digital print on photo paper 300 x
200 cm.)
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Norfolk Tuber 2005 (digital print on photo paper 300 x 200
cm.)
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With the agreement of the artist, the Mayor of Suverto ( a small Tuscan
Town) organised a “Tuscan bacon loaf fair” in his town, as one of the
typical Italian celebrations of local foods.
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The following year, 2006, the artist took a stand at the Nuremberg
Biofach which is the biggest organic food fair in the world, where,
with the agreement of the organisers, he displayed his non -
existent organic foods.
Italian tables 2007. The artist‟s theme of food mania
continues with a project of creating tables in white Carrara
and black Belgian marble. The surfaces of the tables are
covered with carved phrases - recipes that are part of a long
list of 22,000. On the wall behind is an image of a tranquil
sea while a recording plays - a voice reading out the recipes
over a period of 12 hours
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Italian tables 2007 (detail of the carved text)
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Italian tables 2007 (7 tables in white Carrara and black Belgian marble,
each on a metal support with baked enamel finish; marble slabs 150 x
75 x 2.5 cm.; height of tables 80 cm.)
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Tables of Italy and Wanderer above the sea of food 2007
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blAAAUHb1os
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Sicurity In this video installation dated 2007, a security camera films
the public entering the exhibition; its own image though does not appear
on the monitor, it is trapped by the system that shows it 30 seconds
later. This causes some discomfort in the public that doesn't know what
has happened to its image, its identity.
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Press 2007 (glass and monitor screen 150 x 90 cm.,
Giacomo Guidi gallery show in Rome)
The theme of security and the mediated preservation of
the memories of humanity are analysed in this work. The
press is a machine that contains thousands of historical
images, covering politics, society, culture and customs -
from the 1960s until 2007. The soundtrack is made up of
three sounds - the background noise is a continuous
sound of a mechanical factory - this hold the attention of
the spectator. The second sound is of a piston that
pushes each image onto the screen, while the third is the
press that crushes it.
This crushing action has no negative intention; rather it
sets up a rivalry between the machine and the minds of
the viewers who are asked to remember the images that
are brought before them. The images are thought to
have been forgotten but are actually stored in the
memory and remembered as soon as they appear on screen.
The speed at which the machine produces the images is
greater however than the viewer‟s ability to give a name to
them.
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In 2008 the Press is multiplied - emerging from the organism of 101
screens at the Di Salvo electrical goods shop in Rome
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CTMM 2010. (Videoinstallazione Auditorium Parco della Musica Roma)
Mediatised memory is also analysed in the CTMM project (Centre for
Treatment of Mediatised Material), presented with the support of Smart
Elettrica vehicles.
The project imagines that a “power-station” exists in the area around
each large city. these CCTM function as data-gathering centres,
collecting material sent in by citizens, associations, institutions,
companies, schools and universities. The useful data will be included in
the construction of a Web-library of Collective Memory while the rest is
destined to be destroyed. The burning of the data produces clean
energy that can be used by the population or, if there is a surplus, sold
off. All the data sent to the power stations in the country will then go to
form a Universal WE-library where they will be organised by general
groups, subject categories and precise details. Each item is received or
discarded automatically by the machine programme if judged to be
suitable by the General Interest of Consciousness which is a criterion of
ethical judgement shared by the city governing bodies and is inspired
by the principles of material and spiritual well-being of all of its citizens.
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CTMM 2010 (detail of the internal mechanics of the CTMM)
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CTMM 2010 (detail of the internal mechanics of the CTMM)
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La Pressa di Germania 2011.
The video installation is set up in Berlin, at Fabrik Deutschland which is
a former violin factory, now transformed and brought to life as a centre
for the collection of images. These images are sent in by citizens,
associations, institutions, companies, schools and universities and they
concern the recent memories of the German people. Fabrik
Deutschland collect, organises and stores the images by general
groups, subject categories and precise details, thus creating a data
bank made up of thousands of photographic records concerning
political, social and cultural history of from the construction of the wall in
1961 to 2011. Each item is received or discarded automatically by the
Fabrik machine, based on an ethical judgment criterion which is shared
with the political and institutional powers of the country and inspired by
the principles of material and spiritual well-being of all of its citizens.
The data is gathering by receiving towers that are placed on the roof of
the factory and transmitted inside to a large monitor and memorised
through the crushing action of a mechanical press accompanied by a
deafening background noise.
The rhythmic effect produced by the crushing of the images contributes
to the creation in the visitor a hypnotic spiral into which he or she will
get sucked: as soon as one image appears on the screen, somewhere
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the memory a memory of it will appear but which cannot be explored because
suddenly it will be crushed and immediately substituted with another.
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Repair Lab/Field Lab 2011 (tent, monitors, various elements)
installation at the 54th Venice Biennale.
Inside the military tent as used by Italian troops serving in Afghanistan,
the artist created a field laboratory that preserves and stores the
mediatised memory.
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Repair Lab/Field Lab 2011 (detail inside the tent) The artist has
conceived the vision of this work with the monitors placed horizontally,
so that the surface of the screen has a winnowing action - such as once
was used by farmers to separate the wheat from the chaff. There are
over 1000 images from social, political, economic and traditional history.
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Repair Lab/Field Lab 2011 (detail of the vibrating belt)
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Private Collection 2014-16 Private Collection 2014-16 (mixed media
on canvas or panel; earth, lead, wax and other media - measurements
are actual size of the original paintings). This work concerns
reproductions of works of art from the 1300s to the 1800s aged by
traditional methods. The works are completed by museum style
frames - one could speak here of “cloned museums”; various sizes
have been used and include reproductions of works by Raphael,
Rembrandt, Turner, Caspar David Friedricj, Leonardo,
Vermeer, Canaletto, Bronzino, Bruegel, Michelangelo, Rubens, David,
Durer.
The thinking behind this work is that of considering art as a living body
that records and bears the traces of what is happening in reality around
us.
. Rembrandt: Dr Tulp's anatomy lesson, mixed media on canvas - cm
200x 148
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Private Collection 2014 – 2016. Bronzino: mixed media on panel cm
76x96
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Millet, 2014 – 2016 mixed media on canvas cm 110x83
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