NIX
Francesca Antonini Arte Contemporanea welcomes in its exhibition spaces Simone Cametti's solo show dedicated to his most recent artistic research, namely on the substance of materials and on the complex dialectic between nature and culture, which has as its presupposition an action carried out inside the Acqua quarry Bianca, located in Alto Adige, at 1,567 meters above sea level.
In this marble deposit, among the richest in the world, the writing NIX [from the German nichts or 'nothing', 'nothing'], referred to in the title, is written with fluorescent paints on some walls, indicating that no further can be excavated to avoid the risk of collapse.
In December, when the water pumps stop working to allow for greater energy savings, the quarries are flooded and filled with water. At that moment Cametti carried out his action by taking underwater shots to investigate the rich chromatic range of shades of blue, developing videos that make up the video installation on two monitors presented in the exhibition, curated by Daniela Lancioni.
The study of color and the refraction of light also continues in the upside-down photographs on display, which explore the space in which the artist is immersed and for whose creation Cametti used lenses from the 1950s. Together with the images and videos, small-format sculptures in fluorescent colors are also proposed, installed on the wall, in which the marble veins are accentuated by graphite pencil marks.The study of color and the refraction of light also continues in the upside-down photographs on display, which explore the space in which the artist is immersed and for whose creation Cametti used lenses from the 1950s. Together with the images and videos, small-format sculptures in fluorescent colors are also proposed, installed on the wall, in which the marble veins are accentuated by graphite pencil marks.
The oranges, pinks and fluorescent yellows recall the NIX writings in the quarry, inviting us to reflect on the conscious use of natural resources.