The most nothing possible The exhibition takes its name from a well-known aphorism by Alejandro de la Sota, a Spanish architect who transforms the more renowned “Less is More” through his pragmatic vision of architecture. And it is around this key to their interpretation that the works in this exhibition revolve: My interest is related to the changes that have taken place in the world of architecture in this specific period of history.
There has not just been a change in building processes in parallel with post-war industrial development, but rather the very approach to design projects has suffered a profound transformation. In fact, the architect has ceased to “design” the details and almost starts by assembling standard solutions so as to select forms and materials from a catalogue. And it is exactly in this period that the architect has experimented and mixed together new elements and therefore new materials. This way of assembling generates new atmospheres. In the houses designed by de la Sota, too, the architecture fades away and is transformed into an atmosphere in which there is no longer any invention but only intention. This is the same atmosphere found in David Hockney’s works, when he depicts the new houses of Los Angeles in a series of his best-known paintings. I am interested in experiencing this creative/constructive process by associating materials and finishes more typical of the world of construction with other materials chosen from catalogues originating in other types of application, linking them through how they are used and their original functions. In this way, an overlapping of vernaculars is generated to constitute the aesthetic of the work.

 Untitled – Series of glass pieces The pieces in this show are what reconstruct the idea of pragmatism most educationally. The contrast between the materials is projected in a new pictorial direction. The sanding on the surface of the glass reproduces the splashes present in Hockney’s works. The crystals, on the other hand, are held in place by elements of burnt wood using an ancient Japanese technique: the rust-carbonized patina protects the wood over time as if it were fossilized.

The series of works called Venice This series of sculptures uses a “Venetian seeding” technique, a kind of continuous floor made in situ and requiring all the mastery and craftsmanship necessary for the process to be carried out on site. The attached seeding plaques bring the original technique close to the modular technical shape of the tiles, inverting the nature of the seeding/processing and transforming it from craft to industry. In order to emphasize the idea of modularity, the shapes are joined together through leaking colours. Once more, the intervention of a material that is “different” alters the perception of a familiar image. Instead of the traditional joints between “tiles”, it now has a rubber seal used to dampen the frictions of large machine tools, on loan from the world of industrial production and once more superimposed on familiar images from a variety of historic worlds and moments.