Artists

Bugatti, Chiara

Rehearsing Brutality, until it is totally destroyed, 2020
(c) Chiara Bugatti. Choreography in collaboration with Alessandro Giaquinto, Stuttgarter Ballett

Marble and diatomaceous earth are formed when seashells, algae, and other remains of dead organisms - creatures that inhabited the Earth long before humans - are buried deeply and accumulate in the older layers of the Earth. Slow natural processes and imperceptible vibrations transform matter into material, functional resources for the development of the human species.
Among its many industrial uses, Carrara marble became famous for being employed in monumental art and architecture and has long been subject of Chiara Bugatti’s investigations. The artist explores themes such as monumentality, power, and possession as well as co-existence and responsibility, directing her view from the big picture to its material substance, gestures, and systemic relations. In the sculptural work Study for a Monument I she presents marble in its most vulnerable form, a small spherical jelly condemned to disintegrate before our eyes.
Diatomaceous earth becomes instead central in the ongoing series Rehearsing Brutality, until it is totally destroyed. This material is the result of million years of sedimentation of diatoms, a big family of one-celled algae which today generate a significant amount of oxygen on the planet.
This ancient and fragile powdered stone is shaped here into seemingly solid cubical forms. Set in a spatial structure of movable wall elements, the state of precarious tranquility of the casts gets repeatedly interrupted by a group of classical ballet dancers, who rehearse poses and gestures from historical monuments depicting humans (typically male bodies) as invincible and heroic figures. Vibrations serve here as a medium to put bodies into a literal relationship with the material. As a result of the controlled movements of the dancers - together with the accidental ones of the audience - the cubes experience vibration which causes them to crack and eventually collapse.
It is not surprising that human activity - whether industrial or vehicular - can be detected down to the seismographic level. A study has recently shown us how global lockdowns (related to the COVID-19 pandemic) led to a sharp reduction in seismic noise of anthropogenic origin. Thus, scientists have succeeded in recording natural seismic signals in urban areas that are otherwise drowned out by those of humans.
By rescaling her research objects with a fine sense, Bugatti makes clear that humans are terrestrial beings, locally anchored and deeply involved in the material environment around them. Her gaze focuses on our presence on Earth and questions the consequences of our biggest, as well as smallest, actions.

Text: Sebastian Schneider; englische Übersetzung: Amy Patton

Marble and diatomaceous earth are formed when seashells, algae, and other remains of dead organisms - creatures that inhabited the Earth long before humans - are buried deeply and accumulate in the older layers of the Earth. Slow natural processes and imperceptible vibrations transform matter into material, functional resources for the development of the human species.
Among its many industrial uses, Carrara marble became famous for being employed in monumental art and architecture and has long been subject of Chiara Bugatti’s investigations. The artist explores themes such as monumentality, power, and possession as well as co-existence and responsibility, directing her view from the big picture to its material substance, gestures, and systemic relations. In the sculptural work Study for a Monument I she presents marble in its most vulnerable form, a small spherical jelly condemned to disintegrate before our eyes.
Diatomaceous earth becomes instead central in the ongoing series Rehearsing Brutality, until it is totally destroyed. This material is the result of million years of sedimentation of diatoms, a big family of one-celled algae which today generate a significant amount of oxygen on the planet.
This ancient and fragile powdered stone is shaped here into seemingly solid cubical forms. Set in a spatial structure of movable wall elements, the state of precarious tranquility of the casts gets repeatedly interrupted by a group of classical ballet dancers, who rehearse poses and gestures from historical monuments depicting humans (typically male bodies) as invincible and heroic figures. Vibrations serve here as a medium to put bodies into a literal relationship with the material. As a result of the controlled movements of the dancers - together with the accidental ones of the audience - the cubes experience vibration which causes them to crack and eventually collapse.
It is not surprising that human activity - whether industrial or vehicular - can be detected down to the seismographic level. A study has recently shown us how global lockdowns (related to the COVID-19 pandemic) led to a sharp reduction in seismic noise of anthropogenic origin. Thus, scientists have succeeded in recording natural seismic signals in urban areas that are otherwise drowned out by those of humans.
By rescaling her research objects with a fine sense, Bugatti makes clear that humans are terrestrial beings, locally anchored and deeply involved in the material environment around them. Her gaze focuses on our presence on Earth and questions the consequences of our biggest, as well as smallest, actions.

Text: Sebastian Schneider; englische Übersetzung: Amy Patton

Rehearsing Brutality, until it is totally destroyed, 2020
(c) Chiara Bugatti. Choreography in collaboration with Alessandro Giaquinto, Stuttgarter Ballett