Known for his pioneering experimentation with synthetic materials in the sixties, as well as his large-scale, public spatial installations that disrupted the quotidian conventions of local inhabitants, Franco Mazzucchelli has produced a decades-spanning, prolific body of work that extends to this day. His most well-known series A. to A. (Art to Abandon) consists of inflatable sculptures made of PVC, at first abandoned in lakes and deserts before being left in public spaces, such as squares, schools and factories. The works temporally became part of the urban fabric, while the contact with passers-by activated their unexpected social roles: the public did not passively admire the artworks but was rather keen to touch them, move them around, play with them and take them away. The most common remains from these events are photographs and videos that document the interactions between the artworks and their ambiances. Mazzucchelli’s later series, Bieca Decorazione (“pure decoration”), comprises of works that reference their own objecthood, unlike their ephemeral predecessors. A statement that questions the commercial aspect of art, that seems at first to contradict itself, the Bieca Decorazione series relies on context and history for its value beyond mere commodity.

photography and text: courtesy of Chert Ludde, install photo by Andrea Rossetti