CORTEN STEEL, IVY, AND PAESTUM STONE
WINNER OF THE IDEAS COMPETITION “A TRICLINIUM FOR NEPTUNE”, CO-FINANCED BY THE CAMPANIA REGION – POC CAMPANIA 2014/2020, “STRATEGIC PLAN FOR CULTURE – 2019 PROGRAMMING”.
TÓPOS TOU ILÍOU / PLACE OF THE SUN IS A WORK THAT CONNECTS CLASSICAL SYMBOLISM, ARCHAEOLOGY, AND THE OBSERVATION OF THE LANDSCAPE. THE CIRCLE REPRESENTS THE SUN, A SACRED SYMBOL IN NEARLY ALL CULTURES, AND EMBODIES THE CYCLICAL NATURE OF EXISTENCE. WITHIN THE CIRCLE, THE SEATING/TRICLINIUM IS NOT ENVELOPED BY EVERGREEN BRANCHES; RATHER, IT INVITES REFLECTION ON THE LEGACY OF ARTIFACTS, THE RESULT OF TECHNICAL SKILLS EMERGING FROM THE INNER NATURE-CULTURE OF PAST HUMAN BEINGS, AND THEIR INTEGRATION INTO THE PRESENT-DAY OUTER NATURE-CULTURE.
IN ITS DIALOGUE WITH THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREA, THE INTERVENTION PROPOSES ITSELF AS A “PLACE OF POINTS” OF TRANSIT: A KIND OF OPEN “STATION” BETWEEN DIFFERENT AND DISTANT TEMPORAL PLANES, A SPACE FOR PAUSE AND CONTEMPLATION WITHIN THE VISION OF A LABYRINTH OF EPOCHS WHICH, LAYERED AND INTERTWINED, GIVE LIFE TO A LANDSCHAFT-LANDSCAPE, WITH ITS BEAUTIES, ITS PASSIONS, ITS FOLDS, AND ITS VOIDS.
CORTEN STEEL, BY VIRTUE OF ITS PARTICULAR OXIDATION PROCESSES, IDEALLY RECALLS THE TOOLS AND OBJECTS THAT ARCHAEOLOGISTS BRING BACK TO LIGHT DURING EXCAVATION CAMPAIGNS, EVOKING A SENSE OF DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE ANCIENT AND THE MODERN. LIGHT, DEPENDING ON THE TIME OF DAY AND THE SEASONS, HIGHLIGHTS ITS CHROMATIC QUALITIES, ALLOWING THE WORK TO HARMONIZE WITH THE CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANDSCAPE OF THE SELE PLAIN, WHERE IT IS POSSIBLE TO CONTEMPLATE A “WARM” DUSK EVEN IN WINTER. THIS SUPPORTS THE CHOICE OF ITS TITLE: TÓPOS TOU ILÍOU / PLACE OF THE SUN.
THE CORTEN STRUCTURE IS WRAPPED IN IVY: TO THIS PLANT, ONE OF THE EMBLEMS OF DIONYSUS, THE ARTIST ENTRUSTS THE TASK OF ENHANCING THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT. IN CONTRAST TO THE RHYTHM AND TETRASTYLE ARRANGEMENT OF THE TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE, THE CIRCULARITY OF THE WORK ALLOWS FOR A NEW OVERALL PERSPECTIVE, CREATING A NEW FRAME WITHIN WHICH TO CONTEMPLATE PAESTUM AND ITS HISTORY.
Tópos tou Ilíou / Place of the Sun, 2020. Corten steel, ivy, and Paestum stone. Courtesy of the artist and the Archaeological Museum of Paestum. Photograph by Carlo Ferrara. Project winner of the ideas competition “A Triclinium for Neptune”, co-financed by the Campania Region – POC Campania 2014/2020, “Strategic Plan for Culture – 2019 Programming.
I Parchi archeologici di Paestum e Velia sono un istituto del Ministero della Cultura dotato di autonomia speciale, iscritto dal 1998 nella lista del patrimonio mondiale UNESCO.
The Archaeological Parks of Paestum and Velia; an institute of the Ministry of Culture, with special autonomy and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.
