During the exhibition ONE, TOO, FREE. Mirrors, shadows, visions - Main Project within the framework of Bologna 2020 and Artefiera, curated by Ilaria Bignotti for the third edition of das - experimental artistic dialogues, CUBO supported the production of Alessandro Lupi's work “Frammenti di realtà” (Fragments of reality), 2020, available until 30 May 2020.
The large installation is displayed in the hanging garden that embraces the spaces of CUBO, stretching from the upper floors of the building to the green of the garden and creating an evocative environment to pass through. The work is formed by a large cone of special poles and lines, attached to small, mirrored, reflective, thin and light fragments, which are made of PVC and inserted inside the line through a sliding self-anchoring system that makes it possible to set and adjust the different heights. They are not sharp and weigh only one gramme each so as to be perfectly sensitive to the wind and able to move in step with natural air and light. The work brilliantly reflects light when the sun is at its highest point, gradually softening as the sun sets. Observers are plunged into a dreamlike universe: approaching the work, they face different perspectives, immersed in the flashes of light and the waving of the mirrors in the wind.
The artist created the work in the months prior to the installation, devising the prototype and each small mirror module, assembling them manually and then sewing them onto special lines to be fully integrated with his work. He did all this work himself. The final dimensions of the installation are: a diameter of 5 metres wide by 15 metres in height, with over a thousand mirrors with a diameter of 4 cm and a thickness of 0.9 mm.
The first version of the project dates back to 2015 and was proposed for Horizons Sancy, a Land Art event held in France. Several site-specific versions of Fragments of Reality were installed in Jerusalem during “Light in Jerusalem”, at Light on in Estonia celebrating the 100 years since the founding of the state, and at Museu de Lisboa in Portugal.
“Fragments of reality: right from the title, the work plays on the double sense of its identity. On the one hand, in fact, it continues to make the public question the materials with which it was made and amazes them with its continuous change depending on the moment when it is perceived; on the other hand, due to its osmosis between nature and technology, mechanical engineering and perceptual analysis, the work demonstrates the relational potential between science and art, new media and the environment; finally, the work also has a very strong relational value, stimulating each individual to share the experience with another, in an empathetic and dialectical exchange.”
Objects multiply and seem to enter into motion, transforming space into temporal matter, creating a very powerful perceptual, sensory and evocative experience for the public, invited to reflect on the potential of its vision in space and in relation to time, creating both a spatial and temporal fragmentation of reality.
