Bertrand Lavier

Bertrand Lavier, Composition bleue, jaune, blanche

Bertrand Lavier, Composition bleue, jaune, blanche. “Undisciplined”, Civic Art Gallery, Savona, 2006

Bertrand Lavier, Composition bleue, jaune, blanche. “Undisciplined”, Civic Art Gallery, Savona, 2006

Exploring the limits of ceramics

In a conversation Bertrand Lavier pointed out that when he thought of ceramics he thought of it as a material transforming almost everything into “pastry.” He therefore chose to make a life-size model of a basketball court with its very strict, geometric form and its bright colours so as to explore the limits of the ceramic material. In basketball every city has its own colours: starting with the red and white of Dallas (a piece that Lavier realized for the NY-based Gibson gallery in ’86), Lavier also mentioned Chicago and Cincinatti among others. In Lavier’s own words, this project aims at “transforming a pure idea into fragile sucre glace.”
This and also the intended play on different details, also relates Lavier’s project to that of urbanist Yona Friedman who at Albisola rendered urban schemes in ceramics.

Hans-Ulrich Obrist

Soo-Kyung Lee

Soo-Kyung Lee, Parental plates

Soo-Kyung Lee, Parental plates

Parental plates

I interviewed 12 residents in Albisola and Savona. I asked them to entrust with me one or more plates that are precious mementos of their parents or ancestral family members. In each interview, the plates provided the point of departure for both explicit and implicit memories that flashed across the interviewee’s minds with regards to their relations and especially their mothers who were most closely associated with the plates. Following the interviews, the 20 plates that they presented were faithfully copied at the Studio Ernan Design in Albisola. I plan to serve Korean food on the 20 plates at the opening to give my thanks to the local people who kindly allowed me to visit their homes for the interviews.

Soo-Kyung Lee

Young Chul Lee

Young Chul Lee, Superstring  1

Young Chul Lee, Superstring  2

Young Chul Lee, Superstring (particular)

Superstring

During the preparatory period, I conducted an audience-participation project with the citizens of Albisola and Savona including the mayor, kids, artists, teachers, curators and ceramicists. I gave out clay to hundreds of participants I encountered everywhere — in the street, cafés, the mayor’s office, schools and shops — and invited them to stamp their palms on a lump of clay and their names while making a wish. This grass roots dialogue and identification of the corporeality of one’s self provided the Biennale with sense of solidarity as well as pleasure.

Young Chul Lee

Gabriel Lester

Gabriel Lester, Looking through Caesar (veni, vidi, vici)

Gabriel Lester, Looking through Caesar (veni, vidi, vici)

Looking through Caesar (veni, vidi, vici)

At a certain point an uncle of mine had created quite an empire of shops and warehouses selling secondhand goods throughout the city of Amsterdam. The warehouses were located on the outskirts of the city, the shops in the centre of town. This empire lasted about as long as fashion waves tend to do — a short decade — after which it became clear that people favored buying new, unused goods.
Being in need of money at the time, I worked in his shops and warehouses for some months. The range of goods that passed through my hands was amazing — my uncle would buy complete interiors of Parisian cafés as well as cargo loads of old and used postcards. It was on a day where I had to transport a shipment of postcards from a warehouse to a shop, that I came across a postcard image of a statue of Julius Caesar. I was struck by the light in the eyes of the gray marble figure and put the postcard in one of my pockets. Only later did I discover that Caesar’s eyes had been painted in gold and that this was what made him look so vibrant and alive.
When I was asked to make a ceramic work for the Biennale of Ceramics in Contemporary Art, I immediately thought of the postcard image that had stuck in my memory.  Around about the same time that I thought of the postcard, I visited an exhibition where, amongst other pieces, an early work by Giacometti was on display. What I liked about those early works, was that the shape and form of the sculptures was open and transparent. So looking at those works also meant looking at what was behind the work — the space and the visiting public. I put one and one together and decided to copy a statue of Caesar where it was possible to look through his eyes — giving him a lively appearance (the opened eyes would of course be illuminated by the surrounding light). At the same time the experience of watching the sculpture becomes an experience of seeing what happens behind and/or before it.
Finding the right statue of Caesar to copy proved to be something of a challenge, but the organizers of the Biennale found one I liked in Turin and brought it to Albisola. The next step was to copy it and then for me to come to Albisola to open its eyes and choose the final color of the statue. That is about as far as my practical experience with ceramics has come. I titled my work Looking Through Caesar (veni, vidi, vici) and intend to place it looking out solemnly over the sea.

Gabriel Lester

Corrado Levi

Corrado Levi, Socle d’Albisola. Lungomare Montale, Albisola Superiore

Corrado Levi, Socle d’Albisola. Lungomare Montale, Albisola Superiore

Corrado Levi, in his multiform work, constantly evokes and refers to images or words of other artists – tributes, dedications, quotations and revaluations dictated by the passion and desire to deconstruct rules and signs with subtlety and irony.
That’s why Corrado Levi, invited for the first time to Albisola in 2003 for the 2nd Biennial of Ceramics in Contemporary Art, designed Le Socle d’Albisola (“The pedestal of Albisola”), a ceramic parallelepiped that (almost entirely) draws on Le Socle du monde (“The pedestal of the world”) by Piero Manzoni, upside-down, because in fact “it is the earth that rests on it and not vice versa”.
Le Socle d’Albisola by Corrado Levi is presented as three tributes in one: to Piero Manzoni, whose history is closely entwined with this land, to the microcosm of Albisola and to its ceramics.

Corrado Levi

Sandro Lorenzini

Sandro Lorenzini, Schermo

Screen

During an evening with a waning moon, in Pozzo Garitta, with a few people around, I formed a light, vertical clay sculpture made of overlapping modules on a wooden wheel. Out of what is almost an old habit-vice of a narration-pretext I put forms-shadows of an imagined-taken for granted cosmogony of clay-water-air-fire on the piece. But this is not the story. Sculpture is a screen covered only with the glaze/non-glaze of the projection; the decoration of the piece is the chronicle of how it was formed: light-colour-scenery of sounds, a story about an evening like this.

Sandro Lorenzini

Marepe

Marepe, Feliz Natal, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas  1

Marepe, Feliz Natal, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas  2, 3

Marepe, Feliz Natal, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas  4, 5

Marepe, Feliz Natal, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas  6

Marepe, Feliz Natal, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas  7

Marepe, Feliz Natal, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas. 2nd Biennial of Ceramics in Contemporary Art. Villa Groppallo, Vado Ligure

Marepe, Feliz Natal, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas. 2nd Biennial of Ceramics in Contemporary Art. Villa Groppallo, Vado Ligure

Feliz Natal, Buon Natale, Merry Christmas

The fast pace of the contemporary world and the new demands posed by a globalized art circuit has often led artists not only to establish ephemeral relationships while carrying out their art production, but also to adapt their work to other contexts.  As a consequence, the content of their work is exhausted, particularly by means of a quick production process that we could call “instant art” – one in which they resort to conceptual discourse in an attempt to defend original ideas to the detriment of the technical aspect of the work. Therefore, we can easily understand the latest generations of artists placing ceramics in the middle ground, for the production of the designed object involves processing stages and technical details that are rendered step-by-step, day-by-day, until reaching the kiln — and then there is the kiln timing.
I view my experience at the San Giorgio plant in Albissola Marina as a small oasis. There, I indulged in the particularly comfortable condition of working side-by-side with very special people in relationships, including those at the workplace, that were permeated with affection. At the same time, I learned their timing and their way of dealing with art.
Frequently, the space and atmosphere of the Italian studio brought to mind the sculpture department in the School of Fine Arts that I attended in my college days in Bahia (Brazil).
Both places were founded on the same principles, so I took particular pleasure in sharing with my new teachers my personal way of working with clay.
During my seven-day visit to San Giorgio I reflected on my career and our discussions on contemporary art, but mainly the pace of my own work.
I enjoyed the close contact with Giovanni Poggi’s lovely family — Piero, Silvana, Luisa, young Simona, and Matteo, whom I met the day before I left — and the revelation of their art through work and trade, which constitute a rare and enviable alchemy in today’s world.
The opportunity to work at the traditional ceramics factory taught me that art should not be placed beyond human possibilities; that is to say, beyond the natural demands of body and soul for action and rest in dealing with it; nor should art-making be detached from affection. I also contemplated the implications of contemporary art and the needs of the modern world and tradition. I shall cherish my short experience at the factory as something precious that will guide me through the pressures of everyday art-making as an actual process of production, rather than a utopian fancy. In this process, I shall reconsider ceramics as a highly significant medium that must be experienced and prescribed for art’s sake. I trust that the 2nd Biennale of Ceramics in Contemporary Art will duly play its role as the driving force for a new way of dealing with the world.
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to curator Hans-Ulrich Obrist for offering me the opportunity to enjoy such a pleasant visit to the San Giorgio plant and to participate in this edition of the Biennale.

Marepe

Annamaria Martena

Anna Maria Martena, video of the Music for piano and ceramics concert

Davide Minuti

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

Setsuko Nagasawa

Setsuko Nagasawa, The situations

The situations

I went to Albisola in search of very bright ceramic colours, red, yellow and black for my in situ installation project. I have created about 12 sculptural coloured volumes that can be laid horizontally or piled vertically on the floor as elements of the installation. Their configuration depends, of course, on the amount of available space. Through this installation and the relationships between these coloured volumes, space and light, I symbolically express the life situation which depends on one’s point of view.

Setsuko Nagasawa

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