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Lot Essay
Since 1965, Pier Paolo Calzolari has fashioned a very personal alchemy of non-stable and organic materials such as margarine, salt, neon or candle flames in which phenomenology, philosophy and poetry evocatively blend.
Featuring two of his most favourite resources - ice and copper - this untitled frosting unit embodies the fundamental axis of the artist's 'dmarche', that is to say the activation of space. Calzolari's oeuvre, even more than the work of the other members of the Arte Povera group, incarnates the notion of 'Opera Aperta' (Open Work) that Italian writer Umberto Eco defined in 1962. In this conception, 'the creator presents a work that is to achieve, or rather a kind of works that, even if they are materially constituted, stay open to a continuous process of internal germination.' (Umberto Eco, in 'Arte Povera', Paris 1994 p.30).
In fact, when the cooling unit that is connected to the structure is switched on, humidity condenses and frosts, partially covering the piece with a mellow coat of white rime. The artwork that only exists in this unstable, volatile state then turns up as a unique sensual experience, poetically evoking natural atmospheric variations.
Featuring two of his most favourite resources - ice and copper - this untitled frosting unit embodies the fundamental axis of the artist's 'dmarche', that is to say the activation of space. Calzolari's oeuvre, even more than the work of the other members of the Arte Povera group, incarnates the notion of 'Opera Aperta' (Open Work) that Italian writer Umberto Eco defined in 1962. In this conception, 'the creator presents a work that is to achieve, or rather a kind of works that, even if they are materially constituted, stay open to a continuous process of internal germination.' (Umberto Eco, in 'Arte Povera', Paris 1994 p.30).
In fact, when the cooling unit that is connected to the structure is switched on, humidity condenses and frosts, partially covering the piece with a mellow coat of white rime. The artwork that only exists in this unstable, volatile state then turns up as a unique sensual experience, poetically evoking natural atmospheric variations.