Pagina:8. Giovanni Oberti.pdf/14

Ma il tempo anche circolo, un particolare circolo, dicevamo, a forma di 8, con torsione al centro. La stratificazione infatti, da un jato, trasforma I'oggetto, con delicatezza, spesso non nella sostanza mater|ale, ma certamente nell'apparire e nel significare. Dall'altro, iI rimettere in circolo d all'oggetto un senso proprio, autonomo, Che ritorna cambiato aI mittente, attraverso I'occhio dell'osservatore. Cosi, anche I'osservatore, specu- larmente dall'altra parte del processo di produzione, ha depositato la sua polvere, la sua umidit, iI suo velo sull'oggetto. Cosi, infine, iI lavoro del tempo, un lavoro sul tempo, assume un'aria -- si, un'aria -- misteriosamente senza tempo.

Elio Grazioli Milano, settembre 2010

Where are the works of art, in fact? A water pond, a plinth and a neon lamp in the shape of the number 8 look more like a work in progress, or even a failure, than an actual exhibition. The only piece evoking a real object is the neon, though very simple and immaterial, a mere number. Which is just the clue: the number deserves the credit for showing the beholder the appearance and the meaning of the other entities. 8 is a circle twisted on its centre, a double and wiggly form, more a round than a circle. Its shape brings to mind that of an hourglass, thus hinting at the flowing of time. That is just what everythingis about: acircle operatedbytime.Thisis a productiondevice of what is visible: the pond on theground is the result of thedampness collecting everydayjust inside the spacededicatedto the exhibition- throughdehumidifiers which are actuallythere, but not visible and poured everymorningonto the ground, thus becomingvisible again and turnedin a shape, whichis shapeless indeed,but free to flow again; the plinth, taller thanan average adult so that no one is allowedto see or to touch what is lyingon the top of it, is a dust collector-Duchamp wouldhave saida "breeder" -- andits activityis perennial, as no one willever be allowedto cover it or to turnit upsidedown, it will always be active inits verticality Watery, dusty, dried, moist, horizontal and vertical, shapeless and shaped, reflecting and opaque, liquid and gritty, everything is on the fringe of existence, yet there and pre-existing inside the space dedicated to the exhibition, the space itself. Everything has been taken and then given back- on the fringe of visible and recognizable -- than again everything is spread around again. SO, what is this? A missing tautology? A limping perpetual motion? A virtuous but useless circle? A weak version of the search for eternity? Or perhaps the sign of infinity shrewdly set straight? Vanitas was the title of the work immediately preceding these, the first based on dampness collection. A recall to caducity, but also, literally, to fragile vanity delicate narcissism, care for discretion and good taste, a silent exercise of accuracy, a fondness for reality and a capability of dealing with what is at one's disposal, a way of cultivating oneself without issues or