IL GIARDINO ASSOLUTO
IL GIARDINO ASSOLUTO. Al di sopra… il cielo, Forma e Materia, La tela di petali.
2018, Torino.
Art installations and performances created in the garden-studio of Paola Malato at Palazzo Aimonetti in Turin, accompanied by musical commentary from Elena Gallafrio (violin) and Daniela Ienna (violin).
The theme of the cultivated garden—a space modified by humans not for utilitarian purposes but for the pure pleasure of contemplation—is one of the fundamental themes of the artist’s works in this setting.
In the garden of a private residence nestled in the urban heart of Turin, the artist, through a triptych of works, has crafted a kind of journey, both physical and mental, encouraging reflection on the awareness and necessity of the relationship between humans and nature. The garden’s owner, Paola Malato, artist and art critic, accompanied the event with a critical text that eloquently summarizes the genesis and meaning of the three works: Above… the Sky, Form and Matter, The Petal Canvas. The latter is a performance in which the artist created an installation with rose petals and pigments, engaging the audience present.
Marcella Tisi invites us today to an artistic event in the garden of Paola Malato’s studio, allowing us to participate not only as spectators but also as actors, engaging all our senses (sight, hearing, smell). This is essentially an invitation to reflect on our relationship with nature understood as a living organism, an entity with which we can interact, respecting its breath, fragrance, and forms—never with the intention of turning it into a decorated or decorative object.
The garden, of course, has its configuration shaped over time, which must be respected, and is indeed a space limited by its own boundaries. Yet, by simply looking up, the opening of a “cloud” of sky immediately projects us into an absolute dimension that feels mystical and transcendent, allowing us to rise above notions of our finiteness and vanity.
We are greeted by a large sculpture by the artist, evoking the idea of a seed that symbolizes her intention to intervene creatively in this “absolute garden.” On the lawn, a large canvas of rose petals will take shape before our eyes, slowly, with deliberate yet seemingly random gestures, like the texture of a painted panel. Upon it, the artist will gradually trace a line with blue pigment, suggesting a path—an allusion to an ideal landscape, guiding our gaze and thoughts toward the imagination of distant personal horizons.
However, the fragility of the materials (rose petals, color pigments) makes the creation ephemeral, its life vulnerable to the first gust of wind. Marcella Tisi’s action reflects nature’s continuous cycle, the perpetual production and dissolution of its elements in an infinite, eternal sequence. What she seeks is not for the spectator to focus on the artwork as an object, but on the creative process itself, and especially on its temporariness, encouraging reflection on the fragility of life and the constant transformations of every form of matter and knowledge… as music and thoughts accompany us in this revelation.
If contemporary art has indeed shifted its interest toward the act of creation, toward engaging with instability—which is inherently linked to the concept of passing time—toward performative encounters with the public, drawing closer to theatrical events, then Marcella Tisi undoubtedly emerges as one of the most intriguing figures in the contemporary art scene.
Paola Malato
