In Greek, kósmos (κόσμος) literally means “order”—from the point of view of ontology, however, it represents the cosmos, i.e. ordered and rational space, as opposed to chaos.
According to Heraclitus, traditionally held to be the philosopher of universal becoming, the law that governs reality becomes manifest in the harmony of opposites; and the never-ending transformations of the world are born from the continuous, dynamic, and cyclical action of the opposing forces of the universe. The meaning and subject-matter of Lorenzo Passi’s exhibition also unfold from this thought. In these works, he has given life to a veritable unexplored landscape.
Kosmos is the habitat of a planet that is familiar, but not our own. It is inhabited by creatures that make up its flora and fauna, with light and darkness alternating in a continuous and orderly motion.
We find ourselves imbued in a crystalline and yet changing dimension, where Passi’s materials, glass and metal, become a metaphor for the insoluble contrast between man and nature that, instead of generating chaos, is disclosed in the rational order of life. The ensuing image is not meant to be hope or utopia—it is a narrative of an age in which nature lives on, and reproduces in ways and forms made possible by her interaction with man.
In the delicate process of producing this artwork, every breath that went into shaping glass is a vital part of the artist that imprints itself on matter, not unlike a soul in a body. In this process, Passi achieves a catharsis, overcoming the artist’s role as creator and becoming, as a human being, one of the contrasting elements that generate the continuous transformation of nature.
Thus, the exhibition becomes a dimension that the visitor is invited to discover, crystallized in the moment in which life becomes manifest.
Flora and Fauna. In Fauna, the steel that, in the manufacturing phase, restrained the expansion of glass and became its exoskeleton, is about to open up and set its internal matter free. By this actions, it expresses the harmonious transformations of nature, already expressed in the Flora series, where the planet’s vigorous and pure vegetation is depicted.
Flora and Fauna are novel series; they are the result of the artist’s experimenting with unprecedented routes with respect to the classical ways of art glass production. They stem from an intimate need to make imperfection a fundamental part of the life process as well as that of artwork. Nature, therefore, which to our eyes is unpredictable and irregular, becomes the primary source of inspiration, in a discourse that allows for error as a form of purity and harmony.
Light is a metaphor of fire, like an ever-rising and setting sun, continually bestowing life and death, and returning ever the same. In a process of universal becoming, it defines this eternal existence, structured in its endless series of opposites. Fire is therefore the focal concept in Passi’s exhibition, as inspired by Heraclitus’s thought. In the exhibition space, fire, as well as light, is powerfully evoked by the works themselves, which are none but the fruit of a transformation of glass, a material that may be molded only in the fiery heat of the furnace.
As light and darkness alternate, they also express the twofold aspect of the exhibition: on the one hand, it shows us the orderly design of the union of man and nature; on the other, it abruptly and totally changes the environment, evoking in the visitor the sensation of being in another space, where the individual works are no longer part of the scenery, but, having become the only source of light, are revealed as unique elements, in all their purity.
This exhibition is atypical with respects to Passi’s previous experience in the past years. It is an important moment in the artist’s evolution and expressiveness. The latter, though born in, and recognized as belonging to, the world of glass, has come to implement its communicative power through a collaboration with interactive art, effectively interlacing two formally different worlds with very appreciable effects, as seen in his latests exhibitions.
Text by: Giovanna Maroccolo
Curation assistantship, management: Li Si and Sabrina Ardizzoni
Light design and installation: Michele Piazzi
在古希腊语中，“Kosmos”的文学含义为“秩序”，而在本体论中，它表示宇宙；一个遵循秩序、理性而又包含着混沌的空间。
赫拉克利特是最早解释宇宙形成的哲学家之一，在他的哲学思想中，掌控现实世界的规律是由对立和谐来彰显的，而世界永不停歇的变化也是由宇宙中持续、动态、循环着的对立力量所催生。
依据赫拉克利的宇宙观，便也可解读洛伦佐.芭西 [Lorenzo Passi]这次展览的主题和内涵；在这些作品里，他将混沌的未知空间、自然重新赋予生命。
地球是一个宜居的星球，人类依存和熟知它，但它不是仅属于人类的独居家园，在这里，各种生物混杂地栖息于此，形成了植物和动物；光明与黑暗不停歇地交替并有规律的运动。
我们发现自己处在一个透明的晶体般却在变化着的维度空间里，就像芭西作品中材料所呈现的一样，玻璃与金属，两种截然不同的材料质地，成为一种人类与自然和谐对立的暗喻，二者交映生辉，达成了生命的秩序而不是带来杂乱与混沌；这些形象预示着生命的生长、繁衍、生息、发展——一个崭新的与人类生存交互作用的新纪元。
在作品创作过程中，每一次玻璃的吹制，艺术家都将自我融入材料之中，宛如灵魂之于肉体，在生命过程的搏击冲撞中，直至新生。总之，芭西[Passi]实现了一种宣泄，它已经超越了艺术家的角色，而成为一个造物者，成为一个在对立元素中寻找持续与自然和谐发展的探索者。
因而，芭西[Passi]的这个展览为我们带来了一个新的维度，在这个维度空间里，参观者被邀请来参与探索那些显示生命形成的结晶瞬间。在“动物”系列的作品中，钢铁在创作的过程里禁锢了玻璃的膨胀，而铸成了它外部的骨架，然后打开来展现其自由形成的内部。这道工序，表达了自然的和谐变化，同理，它在“植物”系列里也有所展现——描绘了这个星球上繁茂而纯粹的草木之勃勃生机。
“植物”和“动物”是两个新奇的系列。它们是艺术家在传统玻璃工艺制作的基础上进行了新材料研发，从而以不同工艺制作过程的反复探索和实验的成果；作者拥有不可预知的路径，整个过程犹如探险，充满了未知、好奇、神秘与亢奋。
它们的诞生就像是一种内在的私密需求，这种需求使得“不完美”必然要成为参与生命过程的基本组成部分，作品完成的过程就是再生的过程。那么，在我们看来无法预知的混沌的大自然就成为了艺术家的灵感源泉，其中，错误也作为一种纯粹被和谐的形式允许和容纳。
光是火的隐喻，比如永远都会升起又落下的太阳，不断贡献着生命与死亡，周而复始。在宇宙形成的过程里，光定义了它不朽的存在，构成了一系列无止境的矛盾对立物。那么，“火”也成了芭西[Passi]的创作主题，正如来自赫拉克利特思想启示。一方面，在展览的空间里，我们可以看到“光”如同火焰，由作品自身所点燃，他们是玻璃变形后的结果，是这些只能融化在窑炉炽热温度中的材料焠变所带来的；正如光明与黑暗的交替，光线的变化表达了这次展览的双重内涵。从另一方面来看，展览又展现了人与自然统一的秩序化设计，没有突兀的改变环境，而又给观者以仿佛踏入另一空间的感受。在这一空间里，作品不仅仅是景物的一部分，而是再生成为了唯一的光源，展现着自身的纯粹。
这个展览与芭西[Passi]之前所有作品展览相比是一个新的尝试与突破。它展现了艺术家在发展中的重要时刻其语言表达方式的发现与再探索。他站在原有的基础上，重新认识了玻璃的世界，并通过与交互式艺术图像领域进行融合的方式，激发出作品创作表达的潜能，使得两个形态不同的世界交织在一起，而这种尝试在2017年3月的威尼斯举办的——“我创造了梦想的穹顶”展览中已获得过了肯定。
本次展览，芭西[Passi]与国际著名灯光装置艺术家米歇尔.皮雅兹[Michele Piazzi]组合，从作品的构思阶段起就开始设计作品的照明装置系统。
乔安娜·马洛克罗
Light design and installation: Michele Piazzi
