PROJECT ROOM #2

Materia Critica curated by ZNS project

Materia Critica by Aurora Avvantaggiato and Raffaele Vitto curated by ZNS project in collaboration with zanzara arte contemporanea, set up from 23.03 to 27.04.24 at the Ex-Scuderie in via del Podestà 14A in Ferrara, is project room #2 of zanzara arte contemporanea.

• Opening: Saturday 23.03.24, 5 p.m.
• Presentation of multiples, 6 p.m.

THE EXHIBITION

What do we mean when we talk about matter? Why critical matter? Matter is the substance of which sensible objects are made, endowed with weight and inertia, extended in space and capable of taking on a form. The sculptor has the critical and manual sensitivity and dexterity in his hands to mould matter. Depending on the desired result, sometimes he attacks it, other times he goes along with it, makes it his own to give us a vision, to make visible what is not visible. Matter thus becomes an element of natural importance that entails continually putting oneself to the test, with it and with oneself, both intellectually and cognitively and physically. With the critical meaning, attention is paid to every attitude and function of human knowing that aims to distinguish what has value from what has no value. From the reflection on the composition of matter and its analysis on a sculptural and conceptual level, 'Materia Critica' wants to be a celebration of matter, in particular of those materials that can be defined as fragile and therefore critical because they are disappearing. Already in 2017, scholars Marco Armiero and Massimo De Angelis spoke of the 'Wasteocene', another possible name to identify the current era. Picked up by Armiero in 2021 in 'The Age of Waste. Chronicles from the Wasteocene, the global landfill', the term 'waste' refers not only to waste as such but also to the "socio-ecological relationships that produce communities of waste", i.e. those communities that are expendable. From these considerations, the artists Aurora Avvantaggiato and Raffaele Vitto propose an exhibition itinerary not devoid of requests, even uncomfortable questions, with the intention of offering food for thought that can, in some way, give voice and sensitivity to environmental issues, overcoming the ephemeral definitions of sustainable development that are losing their meaning on a global level, without reaching concrete solutions. The concept of the exhibition and the exhibition itinerary are a site-specific dialogue of references, interconnections and meanings that widens from the individual works to encompass the environment that hosts them: Works that with the Ex-Scuderie, become a dialoguing unicum in harmony and contrast, between architecture, history, tradition and contemporaneity.  

Raffaele Vitto with 'Terre Rare' proposes a finely worked portion of soil measuring approximately 12 metres, as the last available resource.The earth, the realm of agriculture, the producer of food and wealth, has outlived its usefulness, relegated to a last relic of inestimable value.It is the 'Hall of Wonders', concealing the inevitable decline offered by the consumerist era that has engulfed every last grain of waste.Smaller multiples, in earth and bronze dust, complete the work.  

Aurora Avvantaggiato in 'Chip' sublimates a very common American snack by hand-crafting a hyperreal copy in statuary Carrara marble. Through meticulous and accurate work, she sculpts on a 1:1 scale the famous chip, geometrically defined as a hyperbolic paraboloid, a synthetic and industrial food.A single element hieratically suspended on a golden disc.The artist gives the work a plural connection of references, from the choice of the form, to the white marble and the title 'Chip': referable in English to 'splinter', 'fragment', 'chip'; to the American in gastronomy: 'crisp in a bag'; and with a clear reference to:'microchip, electronic circuit'. Completing the work are 1:1 scale multiples in terracotta and gold.

The parallelism is obligatory between marble and snacks, powders and flours, earth and raw materials; between food, the summa of peoples' energy, and the pop vision of the latest industrial food product that does not feed, next to the commodification of the last piece of polished soil. The artists deliberately choose a range of references from the statuary marble of Carrara to critical and strategic raw materials.Both because of the historical and cultural heritage of marble itself, which has been used since antiquity in architecture and sculpture, up to the most modern uses; and because of its nature as the oldest metamorphic rock of all, and for this very reason endangered by the intensification of the exploitation of quarries to the last speck of dust.In this sense, forms and materials denounce the exaltation of the ephemeral to the detriment of the tangible; the deviation of the axis of values and wealth, towards superficial and unsustainable forms, with the unconditional exploitation of that strategic critical material now in vertiginous exhaustion, a protagonist in the race of states for the last possible supply with all the devastating environmental and socio-economic implications that derive from it. The artists probe the dynamics that govern the man-nature relationship and invite the necessary re-appropriation of the lost harmony with the natural element: a dream that knows how to build different ideals, transcending consumerist utility, to return to hand down the history of humanity to posterity, wherever it may be.  [Text by Margherita Capodiferro].

Aurora Avvantaggiato - BIOGRAPHY

Aurora Avvantaggiato (Taranto, 1994) sculptor and visual artist lives and works between Taranto and Ferrara. In 2018 she works in Brussels at the studio of visual artist Hans Op de Beeck. In 2019 she finishes her studies by obtaining a Level II diploma in Sculpture in Bari. Important for her training was the selection for the VI Edition 2022 Premio Carrara città creativa Unesco, International Forum of young sculptors in Carrara (1-month internship). Winner of the XXVII Edition of the International Prize for Contemporary Ceramics "Mediterraneo" in Grottaglie (TA), the artist is also the author of several public works in marble and semi-precious stones in Italy and abroad. Her works include the stone sculpture 'Point of View' now in Molfetta realised during the 1st Edition of the International Sculpture Symposium in Molfetta (BA), Apulia, 2019 and the marble sculpture 'Collisions' now in Wunsiedel realised during the XXXth Edition 'Kunst in stein' at the Steinzentrum in Wunsiedel, Germany, 2022. His works (installations, sculptures, videos) are the result of a profound reflection on the use, abuse and waste of natural resources. These human actions inexorably transform the landscape context present, past and future. Since 2019, the artist has been a member of ZNS project, an independent association promoting contemporary art.

Raffaele Vitto - BIOGRAPHY

Raffaele Vitto (Canosa di Puglia, 1993) lives and works between Trinitapoli and Ferrara. After obtaining a Second Level Academic Diploma in Sculpture in 2020, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bari, he dedicated himself to environmental art and site-specific installations, see his participation in the 9th Edition of the Kjerringøy Land Art Biennale 23/24.His work is characterised by the recovery of rural elements, belonging to his own experience, in particular the earth.This allows him to make his reflections tangible, primarily directed at the need to rediscover that lost harmony with the natural element, probing the dynamics that govern the relationship between man-nature / farmer-land.He has participated in numerous exhibitions in Italy and abroad:'Compost - The Open Bin' curated by Nadine Bayek, at OnCurating Project Space in Zurich; Project 'Monet - culture in Motion in Adriatic Network of Museum' Interreg IPA CBC Italy - Albania - Montenegro 2014/2020 Programme at the National Gallery of Arts in Tirana;VI Edition of Apulia Land Art Festival, curated by Carmelo Cipriani, at Parco Agrario della Casa Rossa, Alberobello (BA); 'Segni Elementari' curated by Francesco Carofiglio, Lorenzo Madaro, Concettina Ghisu and Brizia Minerva, at Casa d'Amore, Museo del Territorio, Rione Monti, Alberobello (BA).He has been a member of ZNS project since 2019.

ZNS project

ZNS project, or 'ZentralNerveSystem'.Again 'Central Nervous System'.A project that aims to integrate the main functions of creative processing, seeking to transmit stimuli in exchange for responses.It intervenes in Contemporary Art to support and enhance young art.The project's mission is to bring the public closer to Art, to initiate a discussion on the Contemporary Art System, to provoke reshuffling, rethinking and new perspectives on the contemporary.

project room

The project room of zanzara arte contemporanea is an experimental container - collateral and temporary - that welcomes external project proposals.The aim of the format is to host proposals deemed worthy of attention that are looking for a place where they can express themselves. The project room is a place of inclusion open to young artistic experiences and proposals, dedicated to the projects of emerging artists who narrate our present through the multiple languages of contemporary art.

USEFUL INFORMATION

Materia Critica by Aurora Avvantaggiato and Raffaele Vitto

curated by ZNS project | text by Margherita Capodiferro

• Opening: Saturday 23.03.24, 5 pm
• Presentation of multiples: Saturday 23.03.24, 6 pm

until 27.04.24 | Fridays and Saturdays 3-6 pm or by appointment

Ex-Scuderie, zanzara arte contemporanea,

Via del Podestà 14A - 44121 Ferrara

znsprojectlab@gmail.com