METACOSMO
Mario Airò, Ron Arad, Giorgio De Chirico, Ettore Favini, Mark Handforth, Paolo Icaro, Mario Merz, Jonathan Olivares, Giovanni Ozzola, Stamuli
A project by Giorgio Galotti and Claudia Pignatale
10–17 November, 2024
TFH – Tennis Family House
Nitto ATP Finals
Fondazione Teatro ragazzi e giovani – Torino
Upon entering the theater foyer, a site-specific intervention titled Starburst by the architectural and design studio Stamuli awaits the viewer in a dreamlike environment. In Starburst, galaxies meet, stars are formed, and from chaos, something extraordinary emerges, transforming the theater’s atrium into a portal to a new dimension; an immersive experience that transcends the physical world step by step. The installation features two rows of metaphysical arches reaching towards a yellow crescent moon, set against a deep blue background. It is a point of transition: moving from the ordinary to the surreal. From this immersive entrance, visitors access the artworks in the area.
An accumulation of materials is found shortly after in Miami Avenue 2019, 2018, by Mark Handforth, on loan from Galleria Franco Noero, where waste pieces, skillfully painted by the artist, are used for an abstract composition resembling a star, whose brightness is provided by the neon lamp embedded within it.
On the opposite side, the luminous work by Mario Airò titled Ottava di Cadmio, 2023, on loan from Galleria Vistamare, serves as a counterpoint to the visual stimuli concentrated in this area, amplifying the immersive dimension in a series of luminous displays that trace the refraction of light on the chromosphere, more easily recognizable in the colors of the rainbow as a gradation and evolution of it, reconnecting to the laws of nature examined by Mario Merz in his work.
Upon entering the small theater, the site-specific environmental installation by Giovanni Ozzola, in collaboration with Galleria Continua, takes shape from the ceiling where the work Contando le stelle, 2024, immerses the observer in a spatial orbit of about 50 square meters, capturing the observer’s gaze upwards, reminiscent of a starry night. Completing the environment is the circular neon Illuminarsi rompendo l’eterno ritorno, 2024, produced on this occasion, which translates the vision of the third work in the space, Dust on my memories, 2016, composed of suspended bronze bells that evoke the metaphysical dimension in which a recognizable sculptural element – as an everyday object – becomes part of the surrounding landscape, defining a new hemisphere for interpreting the space.
Under the starry sky is an installation of Do-Lo-Rez sofas by Ron Arad for Moroso, which arise from the concept of the pixel, understood as a single element of an image, a basic module through which the designer constructs his project. Soft square-based parallelepipeds of varying heights form a unique setting, intertwining the principles of industrial design with a creative artisanal approach. In the same room the 3Nuns stools, also designed by Ron Arad for Moroso.
The conceptual irony blends with the masterful use of a material like steel, which in the project sometimes serves as a rigid structure, a supporting core, while at other times it becomes a spring that bounces. Completing the setup are the Square armchairs by Jonathan Olivares, designed for Moroso, characterized by the essentiality of geometric forms and precise, necessary lines, contrasting with the organic shapes of the Anomaly poufs by the Swedish designers Front. This series of seats, designed for Moroso,
has an artistic expression that is somehow linked to animal forms or some unknown creature. Anomaly is a project that thrives on contradictions, straddling the line between the visionary manipulation of a body and the design of a companion object. Commissioned by: FITP – Federazione Italiana Tennis e Padel, in collaboration with Sport e Salute.
Curated by: Giorgio Galotti and Claudia Pignatale
Project manager: Andrea Pivano
Masterplan: Fabio Lattanzi / LastArch
Light design: Massimo Pascucci
Official supplier: Moroso
Thanks: Besana Carpet Lab, Fondazione Merz, Galleria Continua, Galleria Franco Noero, Galleria Il Ponte, SECCI, Vistamare
