1970 (Acrylic on canvas 50x60 cm) The numbers are - Ciriaco … synthesis_of_work.pdf · Numbers...

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Numbers 1970 (Acrylic on canvas 50x60 cm) The numbers are

restricted to an existence inside the grid; a structure that prevents them

from communicating with each other. These numbers are to be read as

symbolic and existential, underlining the impossibility of any relationship

existing between them.

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Numbers 1970 (Acrylic on canvas 50x70 cm)

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Wall of rocks 1985 (stones and mixed media on canvas

240x180 cm.) The background surface has become

materialised, as it is formed by a large canvas treated

with earth. tar and burned motor oil; the numbers have

become stones; there are no barriers between one stone

and the other but despite this they remain separated and

each lives in its own world, under its own conditions.

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Wall of mud 1987 (terracotta 280x210 cm.) Large scale work in

terracotta; the texture is archaic and original, obtained by the addition of

black volcanic sand to the raw paste. In this work, the tiles build up to

form a web that is held together with metal hooks. This metal element

not only holds up the whole wall but also functions symbolically to

places the pieces in relation to each other and in some way oblige them

to communicate

Detail

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Untitled 1988 (stone, metal and cables 60x40 cm.) This

same concept of interconnection is made more explicit in this

work in which pieces of stone communicate with each other

by means of a copper cable.

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Brain 1989 (installation - bitumen on canvas, copper and

lead 6m.) The subsequent step in this process reveals the

key locus where information is exchanged, in the human

brain

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Lab. 107 1990 (detail of the installation). A type of great brain

that gives out information on creation to the brains placed in

the trolleys; cables and batteries serve as sources of energy

but also of information. I have done considerable amount of

work on the theme of the brain and the means of

communication both reduced to objects of a primitive science

fiction fantasy.

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Lesson 47 - The Human Brain 1992 (performance) In this

case, the artist himself is able to work and to express himself

because he is wired up. It is not fully clear whether he is

receiving or emitting information via the dish.

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Detail of the performance

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Writings 1993 (installation in a space of 80 sq. m.,

pictures of 220x150, varnish and oil on black leather)

The next step in this ideation process is represented by

this work in a 1993 show - pictures made of black

leather with phrases in German written on them. Each

letter - which in the beginning of the artistic process were

numbers and then became stones - have become,

thanks to the development created by the work with the

brain, words when placed one next to the other. The

words, one places next to another become phrases, that

are concepts, form ideas to be communicated.

In this installation the phrases in gold or silver are

painted on a surface of leather that is printed with the

image of the Brandenburg Gate. The pictures were

shown, creating the Berlin Wall with cardboard boxes.

The physical context fits ideologically with net-marxist

phrases crested by the artist, such as The crisis is an

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artifice invented by the system to be reborn from the self and

to be equal to the self.

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Writings 1993 ( vernice e olio su pelle nera 100x150)

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Manual workers 96 1996 (Polish car scrapper,

cibachrome 220x100x10 cm)

This is a series of 20 photographs of workers, printed life

size. They all worked near to the artist‟s former studio in

the outer suburbs of Rome, an area of brick sheds with

metal and fibre cement sheet roofing.The artist wanted to

fix in memory this reality which now has for the most part

disappeared. This work underlines on the one hand the

primacy of the human being as subject in the context of

the burgeoning digital era and on the other it stands as a

counterweight to the excesses of the “posthuman” art of

the „90s: bodies dismembered and hung up … It is not

clear if the subjects represented here are models who

are presented as workers or if they are workers playing

the part of artist‟s model.

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Manual workers 96 1996 (Welder, cibachrome 220x100x10 cm)

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Manual workers 96 1996 (Car bodywork mechanic,

cibachrome 220x100x10 cm)

Installation in a private gallery

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World Food Day 1998 (installation 90 sq. m). This

installation was set up in the American Academy in Rome and

represented the head office of an organisation responsible for

dealing with the problem of world hunger, linked to the United

Nations. The artist made sacks with the symbol of the World

Food Organisation, had the bread cooked by a baker,

prepared the photographic set and made large posters giving

information about the events of16 October, a day dedicated to

the fight against world hunger.

Deliberately the photographs are made without contrast of

light and shade. Had they been presented in a

“caravaggesque” manner they would have expressed a

personal judgement on the theme of world hunger. Or they

could have made the message of World Food Day more

attractive by using the style of advertising photography -

bathed in light and with a seductive aura. The artist has

chosen a third path - without light and shade they become

pure information. Staff at the World Food Organisation in Rome

(FAO) subsequently investigated which of their offices may have

supported this exhibition.

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World Food Day 1998 – installation detail

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World Food Day 1998 (Bread, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo

paper)

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World Food Day 1998 (Flour, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo

paper)

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World Food Day 1998 (Potatoes, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo

paper)

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World Food Day 1998 (Milk, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo paper)

By Life Camp 2000 (installation – work in progress). An idealised

humanitarian camp, a “turnkey project”, set up in the the San Matteo

tower of Castel Sant‟Angelo in Rome

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By Life Camp 2000 (installation - overview - area covering 380 sq. m.)

Synthetic grass, trees and topiary with “Love” slogan and Silverhouse

tents arranged in order. At the centre is placed a stand for the

distribution of gadgets; overhead the flags of Italy and the United

Nations.

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By Life Camp 2000 (detail of the tents)

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By Life Camp 2000 (detail of the tents)

By Life Camp 2000 (advertisment)

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By Life Camp 2001 (installation 450 sq.m.) This camp was set up in

Venice at an art event linked to the Biennale. In this case, the artist has

simulated a camp set up by the Italian army. In the area of the

installation, concerned residents protested at its appearance.

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By Life Green 2001 (installation, 15 sq. m) In Rome‟s Via Margutta,

the artist created a display of “humanitarian relief camp equipment”; as

a place where all the necessary items for setting up of such a camp

could be purchased.

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By Life Shop 2000 (installation 32 sq. m.) The logo of the

United Nations is planted into this installation created at the

Museo Macro in Rome. As previously, here we are again

confronted with a simulation - a “change of use” scenario in

which a large warehouse is substituted for the museum under

reconstruction. The theme is that of department stores

selling shaman‟s coats, sponsored by the United Nations.

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By Life Shop 2000 - shop window - detail of the installation

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By Life Shop 2000 – detail of the Shaman‟s coat

Vetrine 2001 - art gallery transformed into a “By Life” shop

The back-lit window displays promote various products, including works

of the artist.

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Vetrine 2001 (shop window, aluminium with interior lighting 200x85x21

cm.)

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The best days of my life 2003 (puzzle, 17 pieces, whole 236

x 440 x 6 cm.) International intrigue is the subject of this

cheerfully titled photo-romance. It is a puzzle made up of a

series of panels that tell the story of a power struggle within

an organisation similar to the US White House.

The best days of my life 2003 Panel [caption translates as Middle

East - “come out of there, Palestinian shits” ]

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The best days of my life 2003 Panel

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The best days of my life 2003 Panel - [caption translates as Later, in

a government office “but what’s going on at Nike? ]

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The best days of my life 2003 Panel (132 x 82 x 5.5 cm) [Caption

translates as Two days later on the 18th floor of UN HQ in New York

- Norman chose this …]

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I° The European Competition of Natural Food 2004

(Silesian lard, digital print on photo paper 171 x 125 cm.)

The real and the unreal show themselves most clearly in the

Polish foods represented in these works. The foods were

bought in the Piazza Vittoria market in Rome and then were

manipulated for the art work. The photographs of the “fake

food” were printed on large panels and presented as real in

Strasbourg, at the time when Poland entered the EU. The

Polish flag is in the background of the images which show

Silesian lard (actually axle grease for agricultural machinery)

or Oleki salami (with a covering of sawdust).

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Goats’ cheese form the Solskeij Puszczy mountains 2004 (digital

print on photo paper 171 x 125 cm)

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Olecki salami 2004 (digital print on photo paper 171 x 125

cm)

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II° The European Competition of Natural Food 2005

Galleria Nazionale d‟Arte Moderna, Rome.

In this installation, the artist not only presented his invented

food that were selected for the “final” but also each of them

were given a „back-story‟ - a short documentary film that told

the story of the origin of the food and its use over the

centuries, up until their recent rediscovery in “nouvelle

cuisine”.

The food finalists were the Mecklenburg black beetroot -

the German entry; Tuscan bacon loaf for Italy and the

Norfolk Tuber for England. A committee made up of 7

members declared the winner to be the Tuscan bacon loaf.

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Tuscan bacon loaf 2005 (digital print on photo paper 300 x

200 cm.)

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Norfolk Tuber 2005 (digital print on photo paper 300 x 200

cm.)

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With the agreement of the artist, the Mayor of Suverto ( a small Tuscan

Town) organised a “Tuscan bacon loaf fair” in his town, as one of the

typical Italian celebrations of local foods.

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The following year, 2006, the artist took a stand at the Nuremberg

Biofach which is the biggest organic food fair in the world, where,

with the agreement of the organisers, he displayed his non -

existent organic foods.

Italian tables 2007. The artist‟s theme of food mania

continues with a project of creating tables in white Carrara

and black Belgian marble. The surfaces of the tables are

covered with carved phrases - recipes that are part of a long

list of 22,000. On the wall behind is an image of a tranquil

sea while a recording plays - a voice reading out the recipes

over a period of 12 hours

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Italian tables 2007 (detail of the carved text)

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Italian tables 2007 (7 tables in white Carrara and black Belgian marble,

each on a metal support with baked enamel finish; marble slabs 150 x

75 x 2.5 cm.; height of tables 80 cm.)

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Tables of Italy and Wanderer above the sea of food 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blAAAUHb1os

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Sicurity In this video installation dated 2007, a security camera films

the public entering the exhibition; its own image though does not appear

on the monitor, it is trapped by the system that shows it 30 seconds

later. This causes some discomfort in the public that doesn't know what

has happened to its image, its identity.

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Press 2007 (glass and monitor screen 150 x 90 cm.,

Giacomo Guidi gallery show in Rome)

The theme of security and the mediated preservation of

the memories of humanity are analysed in this work. The

press is a machine that contains thousands of historical

images, covering politics, society, culture and customs -

from the 1960s until 2007. The soundtrack is made up of

three sounds - the background noise is a continuous

sound of a mechanical factory - this hold the attention of

the spectator. The second sound is of a piston that

pushes each image onto the screen, while the third is the

press that crushes it.

This crushing action has no negative intention; rather it

sets up a rivalry between the machine and the minds of

the viewers who are asked to remember the images that

are brought before them. The images are thought to

have been forgotten but are actually stored in the

memory and remembered as soon as they appear on screen.

The speed at which the machine produces the images is

greater however than the viewer‟s ability to give a name to

them.

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In 2008 the Press is multiplied - emerging from the organism of 101

screens at the Di Salvo electrical goods shop in Rome

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CTMM 2010. (Videoinstallazione Auditorium Parco della Musica Roma)

Mediatised memory is also analysed in the CTMM project (Centre for

Treatment of Mediatised Material), presented with the support of Smart

Elettrica vehicles.

The project imagines that a “power-station” exists in the area around

each large city. these CCTM function as data-gathering centres,

collecting material sent in by citizens, associations, institutions,

companies, schools and universities. The useful data will be included in

the construction of a Web-library of Collective Memory while the rest is

destined to be destroyed. The burning of the data produces clean

energy that can be used by the population or, if there is a surplus, sold

off. All the data sent to the power stations in the country will then go to

form a Universal WE-library where they will be organised by general

groups, subject categories and precise details. Each item is received or

discarded automatically by the machine programme if judged to be

suitable by the General Interest of Consciousness which is a criterion of

ethical judgement shared by the city governing bodies and is inspired

by the principles of material and spiritual well-being of all of its citizens.

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CTMM 2010 (detail of the internal mechanics of the CTMM)

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CTMM 2010 (detail of the internal mechanics of the CTMM)

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La Pressa di Germania 2011.

The video installation is set up in Berlin, at Fabrik Deutschland which is

a former violin factory, now transformed and brought to life as a centre

for the collection of images. These images are sent in by citizens,

associations, institutions, companies, schools and universities and they

concern the recent memories of the German people. Fabrik

Deutschland collect, organises and stores the images by general

groups, subject categories and precise details, thus creating a data

bank made up of thousands of photographic records concerning

political, social and cultural history of from the construction of the wall in

1961 to 2011. Each item is received or discarded automatically by the

Fabrik machine, based on an ethical judgment criterion which is shared

with the political and institutional powers of the country and inspired by

the principles of material and spiritual well-being of all of its citizens.

The data is gathering by receiving towers that are placed on the roof of

the factory and transmitted inside to a large monitor and memorised

through the crushing action of a mechanical press accompanied by a

deafening background noise.

The rhythmic effect produced by the crushing of the images contributes

to the creation in the visitor a hypnotic spiral into which he or she will

get sucked: as soon as one image appears on the screen, somewhere

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the memory a memory of it will appear but which cannot be explored because

suddenly it will be crushed and immediately substituted with another.

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Repair Lab/Field Lab 2011 (tent, monitors, various elements)

installation at the 54th Venice Biennale.

Inside the military tent as used by Italian troops serving in Afghanistan,

the artist created a field laboratory that preserves and stores the

mediatised memory.

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Repair Lab/Field Lab 2011 (detail inside the tent) The artist has

conceived the vision of this work with the monitors placed horizontally,

so that the surface of the screen has a winnowing action - such as once

was used by farmers to separate the wheat from the chaff. There are

over 1000 images from social, political, economic and traditional history.

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Repair Lab/Field Lab 2011 (detail of the vibrating belt)

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Private Collection 2014-16 Private Collection 2014-16 (mixed media

on canvas or panel; earth, lead, wax and other media - measurements

are actual size of the original paintings). This work concerns

reproductions of works of art from the 1300s to the 1800s aged by

traditional methods. The works are completed by museum style

frames - one could speak here of “cloned museums”; various sizes

have been used and include reproductions of works by Raphael,

Rembrandt, Turner, Caspar David Friedricj, Leonardo,

Vermeer, Canaletto, Bronzino, Bruegel, Michelangelo, Rubens, David,

Durer.

The thinking behind this work is that of considering art as a living body

that records and bears the traces of what is happening in reality around

us.

. Rembrandt: Dr Tulp's anatomy lesson, mixed media on canvas - cm

200x 148

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Private Collection 2014 – 2016. Bronzino: mixed media on panel cm

76x96

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Millet, 2014 – 2016 mixed media on canvas cm 110x83

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