MANDALA DI ZUCCHE
MANDALA DI ZUCCHE. Arte e follia.
2022, Rivoli (TO)
Artistic performance held in the park of Palazzo Piozzo di Rosignano in Rivoli, featuring musicians Elena Gallafrio on violin and Vincenzo Sparacio on percussion. The performance was part of the cultural events program within the Piedmont Biennial of Modern and Contemporary Art, Sculptura 2, On Tour Edition 2022.
Mandala of Pumpkins. Art and Madness brings together various artistic expressions: installation, music, performance, and happening. The artist, accompanied by musicians Elena Gallafrio and Vincenzo Sparacio in their personal interpretation of the popular musical theme of madness, creates a unique chromatic installation using painted, dried lagenaria gourds arranged in the symbolic form of a mandala. The performance concludes with a choral musical happening that involves the audience.
In an interview with art critic Tommaso d’Olìo Agùrtes, the artist explains the genesis of the work.
Tommaso d’Olìo Agùrtes: We’re interested in your artistic process in practical terms and in understanding your work through your pieces. Here, you present a performance that is essentially the construction of a work of art. How did you proceed? What were the steps involved?
Marcella Tisi: It’s interesting to receive such a concrete question, given that we live in a time—regarding art, I mean—where the transition from ideation, supported by a cultural background, to the artwork itself is hardly ever clear. Essentially, my works are created for very specific places and generally have precise commissions. This partly stems from my background, which developed through a close relationship between art and architecture: therefore, the fundamental elements are the place, the project, the pursuit of beauty, and the maximum freedom of expression possible—despite and, I would say, thanks to the constraints, especially those imposed from the outside. But my artistic path is broad and also leads me to a vision that goes beyond commissioned works and predetermined places. This is the case with performances and, in particular, the one I am presenting in Rivoli.
Two things fascinated me right from the start: the mandala and the dried lagenaria gourds. The first, for its design, its strongly structured colors, and, not least, its meaning; the latter, for their volume and natural shape, which always seems to challenge humans and their creations to achieve an unattainable perfection and uniqueness—and for their sound. Dried gourds make sound when struck! The work is the result of using natural, voluminous, and irregular elements arranged according to a scheme that embodies regularity and precision. Its image was already in my mind, but I wasn’t satisfied!
Td’OA I’m pleased with this statement because, looking at your past works, this would be the first artistic work with a purely aesthetic purpose, and this – it seems to me – is not your usual way of working. So, where did the need to engage with this piece come from?
MT I could answer that I don’t know. Pure madness! But the key lies precisely in the relationship between Art and Madness. The symbolic image of the Mandala clearly refers to the spiritual sphere of the individual and the representation of one’s Self in the cosmos; its creation brings about an order, albeit ephemeral, that awakens wisdom, evokes feelings of calm, and channels focus and awareness… It’s no coincidence that Jung used it as a therapeutic tool for mental illnesses.
La follia, infatti, è sempre in agguato!
Madness is an experience of the soul, and like all experiences of the soul, it eludes any attempt to fix it and arrange it in an orderly sequence because, beyond all rational order, the soul senses that totality is elusive.
Td’OA Interesting. It seems to me that at this point the music helped you.
MT Indeed. Here, the relationship with the musicians was fundamental.
Td’OA In what way?
MT The theme of madness in music found a perfect union with the creation of this work and, above all, gave it a sense in its construction by creating a performance. It is a popular theme probably because, for its versatility, it has given many musicians the chance to build increasingly ingenious and virtuosic variations. We chose Corelli’s Sonata for Violin as the starting point for the variations on the theme of Madness and to alternate violin with percussion to involve, in a great rhythmic breath, the sound of the gourds.
Td’OA But music, to me, doesn’t just seem to play the role of a valuable frame for the work. It seems to me that one cannot exist without the other, and I say this even referencing your artistic career in painting starting with pigments and sands, to the different forms of sculpture and Land art works. Language, materials, and various expressive modes have often converged into a single work without overlap, in the continuous search for communion and harmony. Is that the case here as well? Could you clarify this?
MT I thank you for these observations and for this question as it gives me the opportunity to express the deep reasoning behind this work. While working on the construction of the Mandala during the performance, the musicians and the spectators became part of a single large design juxtaposed with the gestures, sounds, and colors: an ideal situation to retrace the places of the mind in the search—between Reason and Madness—of human wholeness.
Td’OA One last question that might seem to shift the focus but could explain your ability to pursue objectives that are sometimes ambitious and surprising. You live in Turin. Is it difficult to be an artist in this city?
MT Turin is a wonderful city, a place that draws charm from its urban structure, its elegance, its discretion, and the interesting encounters one can make. It’s a demanding place: it urges you to continuously hold on and persevere, so if you feel difficulty or lack of energy, it becomes an obstacle. For those like me who’ve had the opportunity to leave the city for other experiences, the answer is: yes, it’s difficult. Very difficult. But it’s my home. Even if my origins are divided between Genoa and Emilia, I have planted my roots here; the search for beauty is intertwined with everyday life, my loved ones, my places, my friendships. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Making art here increases the quality of life and makes me happy despite any condition.
