The Dark Side - Thomas Cannings

Luxos obsessions
i giorni incentrati sulla forza dell’equilibrio tra
estetica e funzione: cioccolatini ergonomici che
selezionano solo particolari papille gustative,
borse modulari che si trasformano in un’installazione
scultorea, scatole da scarpe in gres porcellanato
con cui cucinare al forno, e gioielli dall’innovativo
binomio porcellana/platino.
il guggenheim di new york, navigando l’onda a
metà tra il souvenir e il fetish, ha commissionato
all’artista californiana Cara Tilker la produzione
di Restoration Rocks, una serie di gioielli che inglobano
frammenti di muro del museo di Frank
Lloyd Wright, raccolti e conservati dallo staff durante
il restauro dell’edifi cio nel 2007.
altri artisti invece sfoggiano un ritorno alle tecniche
di stampa tradizionale, come l’egiziano Fathi
hassan. Pur partecipando a biennali internazionali
con installazioni molto originali, quando
utilizza il multiplo hassan lo fa in una maniera
rigorosamente classica, ricordandoci i geroglifi ci
dei suoi illustri antenati. o come Sandro Bracchitta,
che oltre a vincere numerosi premi internazionali
di incisione, inventa nuove tecniche per
rinnovare l’interesse del pubblico per un’arte antica
ma ancora meravigliosamente attuale.
in questo vivace marasma di oggettistica esclusiva,
c’è anche chi utilizza il multiplo per diffondere
il suo messaggio provocatorio, come Stefano
Cagol, che in una serie di performance incentrate
sulla paura dell’infl uenza aviaria ha distribuito
spillette Birdfl u durante la biennale di Berlino, ad
un pubblico tra l’ignaro e il divertito.
o come Cesare Pietroiusti, che nel 2005 per mettere
in discussione non solo l’idea di multiplo, ma
anche quella dello scambio di denaro per l’acquisizione
di un’opera d’arte, regala un acquerello
astratto in edizione di 4000 esemplari, ma la cui
clausola utopica è impressa sull’acquerello stesso:
chiunque tentasse uno scambio di denaro renderà
invalida la fi rma dell’artista, trasformando così
l’opera in un falso.
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introducing the idea of a one-artist special issue,
but also for having commissioned the best international
artists to produce accompanying limited
editions. indeed, practically every edition has sold
out and exploring the work reveals a full range
of the contemporary art of today: from the most
traditional silkscreen prints to photographic editions
through to actual objects, among which we
underscore gillian Wearing’s mask/self-portrait
(recalling the homonymous bronze by Man Ray)
and a poorly identifi ed but nevertheless splendid
object of desire produced by Monica Bonvicini for
the occasion.
Japan’s yoshitomo nara nostalgically takes us
back to the magic of our childhood with a series of
objects that are a cross between manga and punk,
available from Cerealart along with an impressive
quantity of artists’ multiples of excellent quality,
including the mini Wrong gallery of Maurizio Cattelan
& Co., where the collector can play at curator
in the comfort of his/her own home.
That brilliant outfi t indaco design, which produces
everyday objects centered on the balancing
force of aesthetics and function, has also joined
the race to capture a vast but exclusive audience:
ergonomic chocolates that spike only certain taste
buds, modular bags that transform into sculpture
installations, shoeboxes in porcelain-fi red grès to
use for baking, and jewelry made of an innovative
pairing of porcelain and platinum.
new york’s guggenheim, cresting the wave midway
between the souvenir and the fetish, has commissioned
Californian artist Cara Tilker to produce
Restoration Rocks, a jewelry collection that
incorporates fragments of the Frank Lloyd Wright
Museum wall, gathered and conserved by its staff
during the building’s restoration in 2007.
alternatively, some artists have launched a return
to traditional printing techniques, such as
Egypt’s Fathi hassan. despite the fact that hassan
shows his highly original installations at the
Cerealart is specialised in contemporary artists’
multiples, here is yoshitomo Nara’s popCup.
The puppy turns in the opposite direction from
the cup, creating a fun sculpture.
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Damien Hirst has truly crested the wave of the
various forms of multiples. Here, the “For the
Love of God, Believe” silkscreen print of his
famous diamond-encrusted skull of 2007.
international bi-annual exhibitions, when he uses
the multiple, he does it in a strictly classical way,
reminding us of the hieroglyphics of his illustrious
ancestors. or Sandro Bracchitta, who has won
a slew of international engraving awards, but
also invents new techniques to relight the torch
of public interest in an ancient yet still wonderfully
modern art.
We can also fi nd in this lively rummage of exclusive
objects, those who use the multiple to diffuse
their own provocative messages, such as Stefano
Cagol, who distributed Birdfl u badges to an oblivious
and amused audience in his fear-of-bird-fl u
performances at the Berlin Biennial. or like Cesare
Pietroiusti, who, when he put to the debate
not only the idea of the multiple but also that of
exchanging money to buy a work of art, gave away
4000 pieces of a watercolour abstract on which he
had imprinted the utopian phrase: whoever tries to
exchange money will invalidate the artist’s signature
and transform the work into a fake.