The Sky in intrinsecus/extrinsecus, 2001
The Sky is composed of wood collected from the streets of Cairo, consisting of disparate panels fixed together to create a roof. Through the cracks between the wood it's possible to perceive the light.
intrinsecus/extrinsecus
Group show with Moataz Nasr, Letizia Cariello, Bernhard Kahrmann, Hans Schabus, Roberta Silva, Barthélémy Toguo.
20 November – 18 December 2001
Studio Casoli
Corso Monforte, 23
20122 Milano, Italia
studiocasoli@planet.it
Tel./Fax: +39·02·795·251
Curator: Antonella Trotta.
Catalogue: black and white catalogue with no images. Essays by Antonella Trotta and Ilaria Bonacossa.
Work exhibited: The Sky
From the Catalogue intrinsecus/extrinsecus
Antonella Trotta, Presentation: Moataz Nasr (from the
catalogue), 2001.
The visit starts with an installation by the Egyptian,
Moataz Nasr. The artist has built a thin roofing out of pieces of wood
collected over a period of time in the streets of Cairo. This roofing
divides an “internal” space from a strong
“external” light. It's the first, very elementary and
physical definition of the antinomy of the title, evoking the safe and
cool intimacy of an enclosed space protected from the sunny affinity
of the outside light.
Ilaria Bonacossa, Moataz Nasr (from the catalogue, 2001.
Inside a dark room the public surprisingly finds itself
in a wooden hut, in which it can sit and rest hypnotized by blades of
light that penetrate the wooden ceiling. This work seems to direct our
gaze on what we are or maybe simply allows us to follow the dance of
dust particles in the light. A room of silence and recollection to
fill the interior void that this society of consumption produces. The
pieces of wood that create this false ceiling were collected on the
streets of Cairo. In this way they physically transport to Milan a
piece of another world and evoke the prolonged time during which they
were found in Egypt, reminding us of how different the perceptions of
time are in other parts of the world. The complex patterns of light
and shadow created by an invisible light transport us to a state of
semi-oniric self-consciousness. The title evokes a parallel world,
which one imagines but that remains constantly out of reach. Moataz's
environment evokes a delicate and protective atmosphere, loaded with
the longing for a spiritual illumination that is unreachable even if
deeply desired. The Sky brings to Milan a kind of spirituality that
the westerns world has totally lost. The source of this installation
is an event that the artist himself lived: after his mother's funeral
Moataz Nasr remained alone in the ancient crypt where she was being
buried while the entrance above the stairs started to be sealed by
planks of wood. In this way the wood became a protective ceiling for
his mother, a link between this world and the next. Like children,
Moataz Nasr has the power to create parallel horizons by removing
himself from the scientific logic of technological progress; horizons
where dreaming is still possible. His capacity to evoke images,
through everyday objects found on the streets of a third world
megalopolis, demonstrates that even in the contemporary world the flow
of time can be arrested. We can re-appropriate ourselves of the
capacity to dream through leaps of the imagination.
Antonella Trotta, Presentation: Moataz Nasr (from the catalogue), 2001.
The visit starts with an installation by the Egyptian, Moataz Nasr. The artist has built a thin roofing out of pieces of wood collected over a period of time in the streets of Cairo. This roofing divides an “internal” space from a strong “external” light. It's the first, very elementary and physical definition of the antinomy of the title, evoking the safe and cool intimacy of an enclosed space protected from the sunny affinity of the outside light.
Ilaria Bonacossa, Moataz Nasr (from the catalogue, 2001.
Inside a dark room the public surprisingly finds itself in a wooden hut, in which it can sit and rest hypnotized by blades of light that penetrate the wooden ceiling. This work seems to direct our gaze on what we are or maybe simply allows us to follow the dance of dust particles in the light. A room of silence and recollection to fill the interior void that this society of consumption produces. The pieces of wood that create this false ceiling were collected on the streets of Cairo. In this way they physically transport to Milan a piece of another world and evoke the prolonged time during which they were found in Egypt, reminding us of how different the perceptions of time are in other parts of the world. The complex patterns of light and shadow created by an invisible light transport us to a state of semi-oniric self-consciousness. The title evokes a parallel world, which one imagines but that remains constantly out of reach. Moataz's environment evokes a delicate and protective atmosphere, loaded with the longing for a spiritual illumination that is unreachable even if deeply desired. The Sky brings to Milan a kind of spirituality that the westerns world has totally lost. The source of this installation is an event that the artist himself lived: after his mother's funeral Moataz Nasr remained alone in the ancient crypt where she was being buried while the entrance above the stairs started to be sealed by planks of wood. In this way the wood became a protective ceiling for his mother, a link between this world and the next. Like children, Moataz Nasr has the power to create parallel horizons by removing himself from the scientific logic of technological progress; horizons where dreaming is still possible. His capacity to evoke images, through everyday objects found on the streets of a third world megalopolis, demonstrates that even in the contemporary world the flow of time can be arrested. We can re-appropriate ourselves of the capacity to dream through leaps of the imagination.
Photos by H. El-Gowily. Courtesy Studio Casoli.
To read more
Niccolò Manzolini, Intrinsecus/Extrinsecus, ExibArt.
(www.exibart.com/Notizia.asp?IDNotizia=3661)
Review of the exhibition on the Italian online Art magazine ExibArt (text in Italian).