Download 03
Davide Minuti, Download 03
Davide Minuti, Download 03
Davide Minuti, Download 03. Manlio Trucco Ceramic Museum, City of Albisola Superiore
Davide Minuti, Download 03. Manlio Trucco Ceramic Museum, City of Albisola Superiore
Davide Minuti, Download 03. Manlio Trucco Ceramic Museum, City of Albisola Superiore
Download 03
I was struck by the range of possibilities that would open up when working with such a ductile, formal material. After having heard about the invitation I went back home and talked about it with Massimiliano, which was when I became aware of just what could be done with an opportunity of this kind. It is possible to gain experience in relation to an event by departing from its most remote implications; the elements involved may be so numerous as to identify not with a central body of experience but rather with several starting points out of which subsequent relations develop. The exchange of stimuli echoes in a very extensive sound box and only certain aspects can be described. One of these was the dialogue I had with Buvoli, the Massimiliano mentioned above.
D: Ciao Max! You know they’ve invited me to the Biennale of Ceramics? In Liguria.
M: Oh yeah? Ceramics in Contemporary Art?
D: Ceramics and ceramic manufactures, I’ll have to make a work in ceramics, to be made with the local manufacturers.
M: And will you actually be throwing clay?
D: I don’t think so. We’ll be working with the ceramicists.
M: Ah! Nice, why don’t you make a robot? You could do the Thrown robot.
D: Yes, right, what do you think? A dummy, it wouldn’t amount to much, and then it couldn’t move being made of ceramics…
M: So do something allegorical, like… the end of the dinosaurs…
D: What do you mean the end of the dinosaurs? Like the end of the reptile world? Waiting for that of the mammals?
M: Yes, maybe, the end of the dinosaurs with all the volcanoes; yeah, seen from a fair distance, like when you see the earth from a satellite, with the blue seas, the land masses, the waves and curves on the sea… a ball, the earth, not too big, a meteorite, something like that…
D: And the dinosaurs?
M: They die. But they’re small, you don’t see them, in the sense that it has to be in ceramics, there aren’t many details.
D: Right, you know, I don’t think I’ve quite grasped what you’d do; I can’t really imagine the end of an era.
M: Oh, don’t be difficult, just make the end of the dinosaurs and you’ll see that it’ll turn out well.
D: Sure it would be nice, even though I just can’t see it…
M: What do you mean you can’t see it? You just do it, and hey-presto, the end of the dinosaurs.
D: I can’t manage to be so explicit.
M: Why not? It’s not a question of being explicit or implicit, you’re describing a crucial moment!
D: I’d lose myself in the end of the dinosaurs and I’d share their fate.
M: Sure, now you’re saying that ’cos you don’t like the idea.
D: No, that’s not it, but because I’d prefer to remain closer to the utility of ceramics, how could I say something about the end of the dinosaurs in ceramics, it was you who thought of it.
M: OK, but you could say that it’s the end of the dinosaurs and the end of civilisation, of ambitions, of bullying; the dinosaurs were much bigger than us and yet KO! Come on, the end of the ceramic dinosaurs is great!
D: I’ll think about it. I don’t know, maybe I could make a hanging flower basket, or geometric sticks…
M: They won’t let you. It’s not plastic they’re working with. Take my advice… are you going to do the end of the dinosaurs or not?
D: I’ll think about it and let you know. In the meantime I’ll have a look at the ceramic places, which should give me a clearer idea.
M: Oh sure. And what are you going to do, a 36-piece dinner service?
D: Don’t start taking the Mickey…
M: So? Have you had any ceramic ideas?
D: Either too many or not enough. Talking to Marzia, I thought that I’d do a ceramic pipe… a tube for draining water. I’d put the ceramic around the running water… We spent a whole evening looking for something pertinent and in the end we came up with the pipe, but only in the end.
M: I think the end of the dinosaurs was good.
D: Yeah, but I wouldn’t have done it as well as you. I think you should do the end of the dinosaurs.
M: Right! Maybe not in ceramics; the end of the gel dinosaurs…
D: Gelatine…
M: Wood…
D: Tanganyika ply…
M: And your pipe? Are we sure?
D: Yes.
M: Why?
D: I’m convinced that it’s better to stay around things; pipes collect rainwater, they have functional restrictions, like the material from which I’ll be making them…
M: If you’re sure… How are you going to make them?
D: I’ll have a better idea when I know where to put them.
M: Obviously. It sounds great… Have you done the sketches yet?
D: Mmm… You know very well that without your help they’re not going to be any good. I wanted to ask you whether you could give me a hand. Whenever I do them they come out so-so.
M: You know it’s always easy for me to give you advice on sketches. I reckon we can do it. So let’s draw this ceramic pipe! Even though I’d have preferred the end of the ceramic dinosaurs.
Still today, almost a year on, my flatmate continues to tell he’s not convinced.
Davide Minuti
Download 03 by Davide Minuti was made in Albisola in 2003 during the 2nd Biennial of Ceramics in Contemporary Art.
