| maurizio cattelan: mise-en-scene milan. he chooses the most ancient tree to transform this collective hallucination in a realistic representation ........... | |||
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mise-en-scene milan installation piazza 24 maggio, milan, italy from may 5 to june 6, 2004 curated by massimiliano gioni, artistic director of the fondation nicola trussardi http://www.fondazionenicolatrussardi.com --- after a year from the presentation of the exhibition SHORT CUT, by the artists michael elmgreen & ingar dragset, and after IF HAD YOU, the exhibition of darren almond, the trussardi foundation introduces a new work of maurizio cattelan, conceived for one of the historic places of the city of milan. commissioned from the foundation and produced by the artist for the milanese public square XXIV maggio, in one of the most vital zones in milan, the installation will be under the eyes of all citizens, passing torists and art experts for more than a month. in this monumental setting at the crossroads of history, referencing napoleon's campaigns and world wars I and II, maurizio cattelan stages the epilogue of a macabre fairy tale, an ancient popular ritual and a new urban legend. cattelan chooses the most ancient tree of the city to transform this collective hallucination in a realistic representation. as for magic, like in a medieval tale, three children hang on a tree and watch the truth with their eyes wide open. the characters and personas that inhabit maurizio cattelan's world make ghostly appearances in a personal theatre of the absurd. he sees childhood as a territory of freedom and fantasy and as a time of violence and terror. the 3 boys within this mortal setting are largely symbolic figures, manipulated for their qualities of weakness and innocence, most important in their absence as something lost, something injured, or something sacrificed. it is a mise-en-scene of a popular fable that captures and at the same time removes the tensions and the horrors of our present. maurizio cattelan presents an image of hope, implying that ultimately we have the capacity to escape our destiny, our roots, our obsessions and nightmares. cattelans works are filled of both humour and tragedy ... and scandals. scandals are just incidents, side effects. I work with images trying to reflect realitys schizophrenia: who tries to impose its own interpretation to my work as the only possible makes the scandal. he says. --- but what about the people on the street? many were just curious, asking about the meaning of the artwork. an old lady interpreted the installation as: the sentence of death of the handicraft - 3 artisans ( ... a shoemaker, a carpenter, a labourer) killed by the society. many laughed at her. people forget that everyone may interpret an artwork in their own way. an artwork cannot have set meanings because everyone has different experiences with things. of course there were also complaints against it. most people regarded the installation as the work of a psychotic or deranged artist. many discussed angrily, and were shocked... and others, because people-are-strange, were physically pushing each other. two policemen spent the night there. how long will the installation actually last? we expected critics, and we consider them constructive if they are based on civil arguments, a strumental political debate does not interest us. however there is a lot more violence in television. thus beatrice trussardi, president of the foundation nichola trussardi, comments the controversies. it is important that we consider such issues as an artistic expression. art as a vital form of expression. and of course it provokes discordant opinions. however free expression is the foundation of our society' says gabriele albertini, major of milan. (editors note: shortly after this event, by the late afternoon of the following day, a 42-year old man, armed with a ladder and a hand saw, climbed up on that tree and cut off two of the three puppet in the exact likeness of children. the activist fell down while protesting. firefighters and ambulance came a few minutes later.. the injured individual was transported to the hospital.) --- back to the interview
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![]() 11:00 AM breakfast at de cherubini, piazza XXIV maggio. ![]() maurizio cattelan © designboom ![]() going to the installation ![]() a milanese vigile ![]() a view on the installation ![]() observer maurizio cattelan ![]() a view on the installation ![]() maurizio cattelan © designboom ![]() maurizio cattelan © designboom ![]() a view on the installation ![]() may 5, 2004 in milan. |
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