Milan strikes me as the Italian capital of all that is fashionable, sophisticated and decadent, abstract, conceptual - and where image is all important.
The ECSITE farewell party last night, held in the chic and newly opened spaces of the Fondazione Pomodoro, is a case in point. We were welcomed by music and conceptual performance art, woven amidst the sculptures of Magdalena Abakanowicz. (The works shown below are Abakan Red and Bambini.) There was nothing to aid understanding - sculpture and performance staged in a goldfish bowl of perfection, remote from the outside world, devoid of other substance that was not simply projection of image, an aesthetic category of perfection.
The spaces are extremely powerful, and the performance was staged to invite voyeurism. The building itself, on 3 levels punctuated with mezzanine suspended platforms, invites you to view things from above, below, through steps and cast beams - to invent and appropriate your own vista, to surprise yourself watching others watch.
This young performer sat in the corner of the Embryology installation for the duration of the evening.
Female. Male. Black. White. Semi nudity. Slow, controlled movement against the sculptural stillness of the works on show. The monumentalism of the works contrasting with the fragility of the human body - the perfect human body. The dancers could have been fashion models, and indeed their movement resembled at times a catwalk. I was reminded, in this bizarre and incredibly powerful space, that Milan is full of models - it breathes fashion design style flair - it is the citta' della moda, even when presuming to "do" art.
