Conversation between Giovanni Termini
and Ludovico Pratesi – A Shared Art
Ludovico Pratesi: How did you conceive of the installation
in the space of the Suffragio and what is
the message that you want to communicate with
this exhibition?
Giovanni Termini: The project that I am presenting
in the Church of the Suffragio – a place that has always
interested me because of its space and which
seems to have an almost golden ratio – originates
from the daily observation of scaffolding in construction
sites. As I have already stated on other
occasions, construction sites – which for me are
animated with serial mechanical actions and full
of stacked materials that already have form before
man intervenes to give one to them – have always
attracted and inspired me. For the exhibition in the
Pescheria, I decided to delegate the production
of the main work, the sculpture entitled Armatura
( Formwork), directly to a scaffolding company
which deals exclusively with building construction
because I wanted to recreate inside the space of
the church the same situation and feeling that one
has when in that context. I tried to transmit to the
viewer the feeling that one generally has when in
front of a construction site where a building is being
constructed.
Why did you want to recreate a construction site?
To stimulate a reflection on its meaning. First of all,
the scaffolding serves to create a new space inside
the church, a new dimension with which the public
has to relate. In construction, the scaffolding serves
to create the skeleton of a building. Inside it contains
an iron structure that I interpret as a metaphor of
the social system that we all face every day. In the
past several years, I have traveled throughout Italy
and have encountered scaffolding that is no longer
the means by, but rather it is waiting for the economy
to start up again. And I am referring not only to
the economy, but also to the economy of things: life,
relationships, and culture. It is a suspended vision
that leaves room for optimism, which I wanted to
entrust to another work, Idea di coesione. This work
is made of concrete and contains straps usually
used to lift heavy weights or used to hold together
materials or objects while being transported from
one place to another. There are pieces of straps of
different colors, from different places and for different
uses, which I have collected over the years and
stored in my studio. Now the time has come to reconnect
them.
How is this installation in the Pescheria related to
your work in general?
It is as if the space of the church of the Suffragio
has for years asked me to interpret it; it is a metaphoric
zero-grade, a state in which anything can
happen and in which any element can intervene
and give life to infinite possibilities. In front of my
studio, there was a construction site, which today
is in disuse. The building was not finished and the
area has been abandoned. It is there that a time is
indicated and not time. The idea is to propose this
same “scaffolding” inside the Pescheria, relating
the solidity of the structure to the precariousness
of existence.
How did you choose which work to display in the exhibition?
My relationship with the idea of this exhibition has
from the beginning been controversial and difficult.
From the beginning, the idea evoked in me
the essence of sculpture as classical. Scaffolding,
skeleton, structure, mold, and form, but in this
case it is standby, the long forced pause that does
not allow the conclusion of the work, depriving it
of completeness. In reality, this is nothing other
than the preparation for being: the total absence
of concreting becomes the creator of waiting.
Furthermore, waiting is a theme that reoccurs in
my work. In 2011, the collection of contemporary
art at Francesco di Giorgio Martini’s Torrione in
Cagli acquired a work entitled Celare l’attesa. The
work looks like a parallelepiped, but is actually a
mold made of refractory sand that contains the
fusion of an ingot which is not revealed. In this
case, I wanted to focus my attention on the invisible
origin of things. The piece should, in a certain
sense, give dignity and importance to the process
and development that each one of us undertakes
before obtaining a result and achieving our final
objective. It is the same feeling that I have when
I ride my motorcycle: sometimes I like to get lost
without thinking about my final destination, allowing
myself to be surprised by the trip and by the
things that I encounter by chance on the way. My
choice of materials is often due to the fact that
they are a means or a superstructure for obtaining
a final form.
What influence do you want this exhibition have?
I do not believe that art should have an influence.
Influence is a phenomenon of the conscience for
which an idea, belief, desire, or behavior is imposed
from the outside by other people. When I think
about influence, I think about hypnosis. I believe
that an artist, through a language that he or she
feels most appropriate, has to fulfill a need that
begins as a personal motivation but then must be
shared. The artist cannot remain in a personal or
autobiographical circuit, isolated from the world.