Tutttovero at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea For Tutttovero the Manica Lunga at the Castello di Rivoli will host an enthralling choreography of around fifty works, which at first unfold in a partially empty space and then gradually become denser. At the entrance to the venue, the Manica’s classic architecture is enhanced by minimal installation, in which few works directly engage the visitor on issues concerning the display and interpretation of a collection. It aims to propose, like a small puzzle, hypothetical keys to interpreting the overall itinerary. Beginning with these, the Manica is deconstructed in a progressive framing of ever-new views of the works on display, in which intimate dialogue and grand narrations merge seamlessly. The apparently straightforward image the visitor faces immediately upon entering the room thus becomes a visual arquebus, making way for a promenade of sculptures where the viewer’s movements create the exhibition’s spaces: thanks to their gaze, which gradually marks off ideal rooms along the Manica, visitors will constantly discover new stories on the surroundings, forging previous ones and creating their own truth first hand. This passage is accompanied by some invariable steps that set the pace, presented in turn by fundamental works in motion that “activate” these triangulations. Key works ideally divide the space into 5 sections: The Shooting Gallery, La Fontaine, Il Concerto, Parlez Moi d'Amour, and Cutting through the Past. 1 The Shooting Gallery The photo print The Shooting Gallery (Moholy-Nagy, 1927) invites spectators to act directly: they are asked to be witnesses and executioners, at the same time, intentionally running the risk of inevitable interpretation and thus warning them of the inherent danger in the work itself. The works, as they are gradually heaped towards the back of the room, become fierce beasts but also helpless animals, in the face of an unusual shooting gallery. Though with very different times and themes, Viral Research (Ray, 1986) behaves the same way. It is an intimate and scandalous testimony initially tied to AIDS paranoia but then expanded in its contents by the bitter inevitability of contamination. The stinging references to current events on the part of both works go hand-in-hand with the provoking presence of visitors, as they overturn their traditional role in this obliged introduction to the itinerary. 2 La Fontaine The power of metaphors over the reality of things is this section’s protagonist: the first work is Senza titolo (mortificatio, imperfectio, putrefatio, combustio, incineratio, satisfactio, confirmatio, compositio, inventio, dispositio, actio, mneme) (Calzolari, 1970– 1971), a tribute to processes in alchemic traditions and the resulting deconstruction/reconstruction of matter. This transformation is alluded to by whispering, poised between repeating a meticulous process and reciting an ancient spell. Closing this section is instead La Fontaine (Dion, 2007), a work in which scientific classification of the natural world meets and clashes with Aesop’s moral fables. The aloof calculations of science experience, in both works, a metaphorical metamorphosis, while constantly blurring the lines that separate demonstrable truth from the improbable. 3 Il Concerto The Barca Nuragica by Zorio (2000) lends itself to being an orchestra conductor in this concert, whose main elements are Stainway and Sons (Lavier, 1987), Virginia Art Theatrum (Pisani, 1997–1999), and R.I.T.R.A. (Colla, 1959). The meditation continues on the truth of language and, in the case at hand, artistic language, through persuasive references to Wittgenstein in Pisani’s work and to the tautology inherent to Lavier’s brushstrokes. The first in a series of mechanical works that follow one another at regular intervals through the exhibition, Barca Nuragica activates, with its whistle and circular motion, a set of devices, which determine the pace for the public’s experience, as if being in a carousel or on an assembly line. 4 Parlez Moi d'Amour The passage between the two halves of Albero di 11 metri (Penone, 1969–1989) marks the entry into a new section of the exhibition. Parlez Moi d'Amour by Airò (2002) acts as the soundtrack, and ideally follows the concert from the previous section with its simple and intimate, constant and relentless motion. Igloo by Mario Merz (1991) and Senza Titolo by Marisa Merz (1979) are the key works in this section, along with an ensemble of beds, bedding, and bridal suites: a bedroom setting – traditional archetype of man – becomes the preferred symbol in analyzing the relationship between individuals and their surrounding space, starting from the furnishings up to a rapport with the world. Among these, Lo Studio alle 3 (Bartolini, 1994–2002) is composed of a mattress covered by a thin tile floor, Bedtimesquare (Bonvicini, 1999) plays with the coldness of the construction materials in relationship to the ideal warmth of a bed, while Kounellis closes the series, reinstating the concept of the bed to its essential elements with a small metallic frame covered in natural wool (1969). The impossibility of using this bed for its primary purpose is reflected right at the end of the section, with dramatic irony, in Novecento (Cattelan, 1997). 5 Cutting through the Past The final section of the exhibition is entirely orchestrated by the doors in Cutting through the Past by Rebecca Horn (1992–1993). Contemporaneously acting as entrances and exits, these doors introduce the theme of architecture as the privileged site in the definitive transfiguration of space and time. Rounding off this installation is a series of furnishing elements and architectural fragments, with Scala and Sedia (Boetti, 1966) and Architectural Fragments (Oldenburg, 1985). The pastel colors, warm materials, and increasingly denser works on display in this final part call to mind a toy land falsified by the slow though inescapable violence of the moving pointed rod in Horn’s work. The exhibition ends with an ideal boxing match from the GAM Collection (Marini, 1934; Messina, 1929), which actually is the start of the second part of the mandatory course towards the exit. Lista delle opere esposte / checklist of the exhibited works Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli-Torino Mario Airò Parlez moi d'amour... (Parlami d’amore…-Tell Me About Love…), 2002 Bicchiere, acqua, vetro, petali artificiali, agitatore magnetico / glass, water, artificial petals, magnetic mixer base / base 135 x 16 x 16 cm; bicchiere / glass, 10x 10x10 cm Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea | GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino Giovanni Anselmo Senza titolo (Untitled), 1967 plexiglas, tondino in ferro / plexiglas, iron rod, 200 x 96 x 35 cm Collezione / Collection Margherita Stein Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea | GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino Francesco Arena Genova (Foto di gruppo) (Genoa – group photo), 2011 blocchi in fango di marmo / mud marble blocks, 22 x 445 x 40 cm Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea | GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino Massimo Bartolini Lo studio alle 3 (The Studio at 3 a.m.), 1994-2002 materasso, pavimento / mattress, floor, 15 x 180 x 80 cm Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea | GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino Alighiero Boetti Catasta (Pile), 1966 34 barre in Eternit / 34 Eternit bars, 192 x 100 x 100 cm Collezione / Collection Margherita Stein Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea | GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino Alighiero Boetti Sedia (Chair), 1966 legno / wood, 89,5 x 37 x 39 cm Collezione / Collection Margherita Stein Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea | GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino Alighiero Boetti Scala (Ladder), 1966 legno / wood, 172,5 x 111 x 48 cm Collezione / Collection Margherita Stein Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea | GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino Monica Bonvicini Bedtimesquare, 1999 struttura in legno, piastrelle in ceramica, cartongesso, graniglia, materasso in gomma gonfiabile / wood structure, ceramic tiles, plasterboard, granules, inflatable rubber mattress, 60 x 400 x 363 cm Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli-Torino Donazione/ Gift, Associazione Artissima Pier Paolo Calzolari Scalea (mi rfea pra) (Monumental Staircase - mi rfea pra), 1968 struttura ghiacciante in rame, motore, piombo, candela, stagno, lettere in bronzo, piuma / copper refrigerating structure, motor, lead, candle, tin, bronze letters, feather, 46,5 x 110 x 54,5 cm Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea | GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino Pier Paolo Calzolari Senza titolo (Untitled) (mortificatio, imperfectio, putrefatio, combustio, incineratio, satisfactio, confirmatio, compositio, inventio, dispositio, actio, mneme), 1970-71 12 neon, 12 lampadine, trasformatori, 12 altoparlanti, CD / 12 neon tubes, 12 lightbulbs, transformers, 12 speakers, CD, dimensioni determinate