Edoardo Dionea Cicconi

Palermo

Edoardo Dionea Cicconi exhibits at the Messina Regional Museum. Inside the Sala del Caravaggio the artist presented the installation XYZT.SP , self-supporting metal structures with a mirrored surface on the front made especially for the occasion (to read the news click here ). Behind this work there is an artistic growth, a series of previous works and a move to Palermo. We talk about it with him to learn more about his dialectic.

Almost a year has passed since your solo exhibition in Sicily with Fragments , presented during the summer of 2019 in Palermo. What has changed compared to a year ago, how has your research evolved? 
"My residence in Palermo made me stop and understand what I was doing in the last few years. I realized that I focused on "series" of works, rather than creating single works. BSE , the series of glass cases with insects inside. A psychedelia linked to nature, a beauty with a background of cruelty, the result of my godfather's work with entomology, with which I grew up; DUSKMANN Prelude, which as an artistic collective investigated the abstractionism of the world of stones and installation modularity, with a large red gem in the center like a beating heart; MONOLITH , which attempted to symbolically capture the essence of spaces (in that case the villa where Galileo wrote The Dialogue on the two greatest systems of the world ) through a light projected on a glass matrix which, filtering on it, created geometric shadows; FRAGMENTS, time as a fragment. Strips of glass that indicated the past (through images impressed on the glass, as collective memory) and the future (colored glass or mirrors, still indecipherable as "memory", but already existing). In the room there is also a large network that symbolized an Einstein-Rosen bridge that linked the two walls and at the entrance an attempt to make users lose their sense of lucidity, with darkness, smoke and stroboscopic flashes and a deafening audio that picked up frequencies of the space recorded by NASA. And the last one that investigated space-time and its perceptual distortions: XYZT.SP. From Palermo there was a turning point for me. While I saw all my colleagues investigating issues closely linked to the present, I couldn't stop thinking about the past and imagining the future. I do not think this is disinterest in "today", rather a putting all universal issues on the same level, in the same way. Seeing humanity repeat the same mistakes is a pain. The question is where…? (space). When…? (the weather)."

Within all your works, the reflection on space and time seems to me to be central. By intercepting the mechanisms of alteration, expansion and interference between these two categories, your works often interact with the time and space of those concerned. How does the new series of works you have created for the MuMe fit into your research?
"When designing my works, I always try to keep my mind free but to keep fixed poles. For example, the form must have a balance with the substance. That is the care for the materials, the drawings, the realization process must match the dedication to the search for a narrative and a strong concept at the base. I don't know if the form or the concept starts first, but one of the most interesting things I studied at university during an aesthetic exam is precisely the inseparable link between form and substance. And in general, between black and white, between opposites. My works do not want to have a concept that goes beyond form. It makes no sense for me to give more importance to one thing than another. It is the totality that counts. I feel that all this needs to be placed in a place with which a dialogue is established. Most of the exhibitions I have done are not in art galleries but in places, in spaces. Churches, old houses, industrial sites, abandoned or to be rediscovered. Perhaps it is the place itself that influenced the installation, certainly the setting. Or perhaps, that installation could not exist outside of that place. It was all as already written. Time and space are two universal terms. I think all artists, in general, think about them. One cannot reason about something that does not take into account space and time, because it would be something non-existent, unreasonable. Any avant-garde or current that broke the mold, any nihilistic and violent, peaceful and beautiful wave. Everything held and everything will take this into account. This new installation at the MuMe Museum emphasizes all this in strong dialogue with the past. The Museum's collection deals with archeology, ancient and modern art. It is a pearl for the whole Mediterranean, preserving treasures of the past found even after the tragic earthquake in the city of Messina. Everything has been collected in this huge earthquake-proof concrete container that reigns brutally in front of the sea. A place that would be hard to imagine, with the beauty and uniqueness that distinguish it. It is precisely when we project ourselves towards the horizons, the beyond, that we somehow find ourselves. It is by studying the stars that we understand the atom, and vice versa. Tending towards universal themes is a way to reconcile the macro with the micro. To reconcile ourselves with the whole."

It seems to me that to implement these mechanisms of detournement and interaction with the viewer, your works so far have never made use of technological, electronic mechanisms. I am thinking, for example, of the site-specific installation you created earlier this year for the MEC museum in Palermo or of Prelude, presented during Manifesta: in both cases it was a question of perceptive mechanisms of naked eye vision. In the case of Fragments , on the other hand, the viewer was forced to make their way through the exhibition and enjoy the works using the light of their smartphone. In XYZST (spacetime)instead the distortion mechanism is incorporated into the work and mechanized. Can you tell us about this innovative aspect in your work, about the new materials you used for the realization of its functioning? 
"It is always the user who starts the mechanism. If for Fragments the spectator had to turn on a light from a smartphone, now he has to pass in front of the mirror totems to activate the perceptual game. In fact, it is through photocells that the movements of the distortions of the mirrors are activated. The user and the exhibition are the same. They have to merge. Interaction is queen. This is what is important to me. It does not matter if it is an electrical circuit, a smartphone, a light source or Arduino, as in this case, or AI (artificial intelligence) in the future. So far all the works have been done with very simple materials. It is the assembly, the whole that causes an astonishment to be created. I am fascinated by the use of materials that are also common but treated with a different point of view. For example, stratify a glass structure and insert plates inside, without any type of frame and illuminate dedicated sections. Or place broken glass on the front of the paintings creating modularity and connections. Take small but very powerful lights that you can create very sharp shadows in the hall. Clouds of smoke that make threads disappear into thin air. How can I make a black hole? You sit down, and you start thinking of a way to make science become shape. Mirrors enclosed in large metal structures that "treacherously" distort the surrounding reality."

Inside the room where you were invited to speak, there are large canvases by Caravaggio. How did you decide to relate to this space with such a strong historical and artistic identity? Have you thought about your intervention in relation to this presence and if so, how?
"One cannot think of entering that room and not relating to it. I had the opportunity to present a project at the MuMe which for the first time brought contemporary art into the Museum. But I don't feel I have brought works in a broad sense, like paintings. I thought of translating scientific theories into three-dimensional form, in an installation. This series seemed suitable to me. I couldn't enter anything else. Black holes. Caravaggio uses an alphabet that is too high to establish a true dialogue with Contemporary Art. It is blasphemy to think of having "a dialogue" with Caravaggio, opera - opera. But these are totem poles that have such a different alphabet that I thought it might work. Indeed, the intent is to elevate Caravaggio's large canvases, thus also elevating the past. A way to see them from a different angle. Above all, a way to think about the continuous flow of reality and time. The amazement at the entrance to the room is linked to the enormous canvases. But as you keep walking, there are points in the room where the user reflects their image on the mirrors with the paintings themselves, blending together. The past meets the present. There is no future. But there is. Already there, ready to be taken. Relating to spaces is this for me. Reflect on how to create something that becomes organic, unique. A whole. The opposite way to those who try to create a dialogue through the break, the provocation. Mine is not provocation. My intent is to try to unite the dimensions of time. The amazement at the entrance to the room is linked to the enormous canvases. But as you keep walking, there are points in the room where the user reflects their image on the mirrors with the paintings themselves, blending together. The past meets the present. There is no future. But there is. Already there, ready to be taken. Relating to spaces is this for me. Reflect on how to create something that becomes organic, unique. A whole. The opposite way to those who try to create a dialogue through the break, the provocation. Mine is not provocation. My intent is to try to unite the dimensions of time. The amazement at the entrance to the room is linked to the enormous canvases. But as you keep walking, there are points in the room where the user reflects their image on the mirrors with the paintings themselves, blending together. The past meets the present. There is no future. But there is. Already there, ready to be taken. Relating to spaces is this for me. Reflect on how to create something that becomes organic, unique. A whole. The opposite way to those who try to create a dialogue through the break, the provocation. Mine is not provocation. My intent is to try to unite the dimensions of time. There is no future. But there is. Already there, ready to be taken. Relating to spaces is this for me. Reflect on how to create something that becomes organic, unique. A whole. The opposite way to those who try to create a dialogue through the break, the provocation. Mine is not provocation. My intent is to try to unite the dimensions of time. There is no future. But there is. Already there, ready to be taken. Relating to spaces is this for me. Reflect on how to create something that becomes organic, unique. A whole. The opposite way to those who try to create a dialogue through the break, the provocation. Mine is not provocation. My intent is to try to unite the dimensions of time."

In 2018 during Manifesta 12 with Duskmann  you presented the Prelude project inside the Church of the Madonna della Mazza and you decided to move to Palermo. Sicily and, in particular, the growing cultural vivacity in a city like Palermo, how have they influenced your work and your imagination? Do you feel an active part of the city and the community that animates it? Where is the city located and in what direction is the city going in terms of culture and contemporary art? 
"I had to stay in Palermo for two weeks to set up the exhibition. I've been here for two years. Palermo is the hub of the Mediterranean, historically a port for different cultures, of cultural interaction. Infinite layers tell of a city that brings architectural rainbows into its urban fabric and ancient customs that mix with each other, including the dialect, the cuisine. All styles that come together are a huge source of inspiration for me. Florence, where I lived for four years, is a city that can be considered pure. Palermo is not pure. Its immense historical-cultural baggage has been handed down and changed for centuries. From the Phoenicians onwards, everything is preserved in Palermo and Sicily with its uniqueness that blend together. Sicily is a magnificent land that I never stop discovering. A few hours by car are enough and you are in very powerful places, which perhaps only Rome, my hometown in which I grew up, has given me in its completeness. This has definitely fortified my imagination. I grew up with a very strong sense of the past. With great respect for ancient art, with the sensitivity to perceive all this and to try to make it contemporary without drowning in it and dying. Without even rejecting it. Palermo and Sicily are my ideal place to create today. In addition, I found a very lively city culturally. Where surely there is also room to build something. New art studios are opening, competitions and art projects are about to be launched. And I just don't feel like living in Palermo. But I feel I have been adopted by Sicily in that ancient sense of its curiosity towards "the stranger". I feel an exchange between me and its inhabitants, and this is already enough for me. I think that whoever enjoys Palermo today is someone who comes from outside and didn't know her before. But also those who left Palermo years ago to gain experience abroad and then decided to return, like many of my friends. I noticed instead that those who have never moved away from Palermo have a poisoned tooth with everything that the city represents. It is certainly not heaven on earth, it obviously has positive and negative sides. But at the moment I still don't feel borders between Palermo and the rest of the world. I think that whoever enjoys Palermo today is someone who comes from outside and didn't know her before. But also those who left Palermo years ago to gain experience abroad and then decided to return, like many of my friends. I noticed instead that those who have never moved away from Palermo have a poisoned tooth with everything that the city represents. It is certainly not heaven on earth, it obviously has positive and negative sides. But at the moment I still don't feel borders between Palermo and the rest of the world. I think that whoever enjoys Palermo today is someone who comes from outside and didn't know her before. But also those who left Palermo years ago to gain experience abroad and then decided to return, like many of my friends. I noticed instead that those who have never moved away from Palermo have a poisoned tooth with everything that the city represents. It is certainly not heaven on earth, it obviously has positive and negative sides. But at the moment I still don't feel borders between Palermo and the rest of the world ». it obviously has positives and negatives. But at the moment I still don't feel borders between Palermo and the rest of the world. it obviously has positives and negatives. But at the moment I still don't feel borders between Palermo and the rest of the world."