From Sand, Artworks in Glass. 2/12 – Remo Salvadori

In 2017 Remo Salvadori was invited by C.I.R.V.A. (Centre international de recherche sur le verre et les arts plastiques) in Marseille to convert a work of his – Gravità 0°, 1978 – into glass. The flames, the melted glass, the dance created in the glowing light remain a vivid memory for the artist, who leaves this message for us: “it creates space, rather than occupying it”.

Fragmented experiences,
little fires have marked out
a path that reveals itself
as it proceeds.
A path along which the observer travels, observing himself.
The place: four galleries.
The first presents the materials
to be used, found therein.
The second represents
a heated receptacle
of organic elements.
The third offers
a spatial reworking.
In the fourth the entire path cools down
into a ceramic form.
An object is born:
a model. An original specimen.

Gravity 0°

A non gravitational experience
of time and place[1].

Remo Salvadori, 1979

[1] Remo Salvadori, Germano Celant, Fabbri Editori, Milan 1991, pag. 26.

BUILDINGBOX is dedicating the 2019-2020 season to contemporary glass art with the project Dalla sabbia, opere in vetro (From sand, artworks in glass), an exhibition spread over 12 monthly appointments, curated by BUILDING in collaboration with Jean Blanchaert. The second artwork is Gravità 0° by Remo Salvadori.

The title, Dalla sabbia, opere in vetro (From sand, artworks in glass) evokes the fascinating alchemy involved in creating this material from sand, using air and fire, presenting the work of contemporary artists who have chosen to explore the potential offered by this medium. It is the experimental approach that makes these works so exemplary and precious: they are conceived by artists who use various different techniques, some of which are not usually associated with the specific characteristics of glass. This project resonates with BUILDING’s mission of exploring the lesser known aspects and experimental side of the art world, along with more celebrated figures and practices.

Here the focus is on the creative relationship forged between the artist’s vision and the craft of master glassmakers. Easily shaped by skilled hands, glass assumes “fragile” forms that both connect with the artistic traditions of the past and at the same time open up to a formal perspective grounded in contemporary aesthetics. The theme of the project lies in the works themselves, rooted in an age-old history and ancient craft, bearers of a precise chemical combination of different elements developed 4000 years ago by the Phoenicians, and which still holds infinite potential.

For 12 months a sequence of works by various artists will be hosted in the independent showcase, visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, marking the passing of time and eliciting broader reflections on how time tends to dominate space.