marta allegri/art interventions in casso

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marta allegri 
art interventions in casso, 2014-2015 

Giorno di festa (Eng.: festive days), metallic net and stones, 175×105 cm, 2014
(set up in the hamlet of Casso)

All’ombra del Monte Toc (Eng.: In the shadow of Mt.Toc), metallic net and stones, 3,40×3,70 mt.s, 2014
(set up in the hamlet of Casso)

Riparare (Eng.: Repair), metallic net, stones, pieces of plaster, 70×70 cm, 2014
(set up in the hamlet of Casso)

In Vaso (Eng.: In-Vase/In-Vaded), metallic net, 20x 20 cm, 2014
(set up in the Spazio di Casso)

Dall’esagono al pentagono. (Fragile) (Eng.: from hexagon to pentagon. (Fragile)), metallic net, stones and glass, 85 cm, 2014
(set up in the Spazio di Casso)

Three art interventions on the walls of Casso.
Materials: hexagonal net, stones and pebbles.

“When I arrived in Casso for the first time I’ve felt like I was in a place that belonged to me, it’s strange but this is the strongest feeling that I still experience to this day, there is nothing mine here, but that type of tall, narrow houses, made of stones, and those tiny roads, just as narrow themselves, a small but complicated labyrinth in which I seem to get lost every time, they all represent a strong and closed character, that is shy, reserved and strict as well, one that I feel I share. A hamlet almost intact, but empty, balanced on the side of a mountain.
At first, I had to almost detox myself from the familiar brick houses of the Po Valley, on which I’ve been working for years already. And that is why stones, the primary construction material of the whole village, hadn’t immediately caught my attention.
Stones, from the mountain to the houses.
Stones processed in all manners of ways, in answer to different needs: roofs, staircases, windows, roads, fountains.
I’ve come back to Casso several times, and as I drove on the uphill road that leads to the village I observed these hexagonal-link nets attached to the side of the mountain to hold back potential falling rocks; they were everywhere, all with different shapes and sizes.
In the past I’d worked for many years with similar metallic nets. I tried, through a slow and repetitive work, to recover the actions carried out inside a domestic, private environment.
The word “decoration” is generally intended with a negative connotation; I had written down this definition, whose source I’ve taken: Decoration, First Alphabeth of thought dealing with space.
I like to think about the origin of things a lot.
I’ve worked in my studio and not in Casso, but I’ve had a lot of time to do it.
Eva was the one to bring me the first small stones from Casso; she’d been on a school trip there, and she told me about their brittlesness. When that happened, I was cutting and bending these thicker nets to make rectangular sheets out of them, and the stones have become part of the weave in a very natural way.
Rocks like precious stones, held in the middle of circular designs.
And so, new trips were planned, to gather more stones. I thought of that cloths that are hung outside the windows in festive days to make the village look prettier, that’s why I’ve thought of a limited exhibit time. These works will only remain in their current locations until the end of the summer. In choosing said locations, I’ve looked for walls with plaster; in the end, all three of the spaces have a common feature: they find themselves in a transformative phase frozen in time, it’s like they’re waiting for something.
Three different situations: a private and closed space (only accessible on the opening day), a walled-up French window, the lateral wall of a house. Three works that aren’t very visible, that enter the hamlet without making much of a fuss.
 All’Ombra del Monte Toc (Eng.: In the shadow of Mt. Toc), the largest work, fixed on the wall of a house, on the path at the very top of the village, will sway between visible and invisible, because how the light reflects upon it.

I’d like to thank all the inhabitants of Casso, who have made the performance possible, welcoming contemporary art inside their village. I’m particularly grateful to Marcello Mazzucco, Luigina Mazzucco, Paola Canzan, Debora Manarin, Delfino Manarin.

artworks presented in the occasion of
vajont 2015 – projects
nuovo spazio di casso
May the 2nd 2015