Brute Force, Il Bigio (Foolish) by Chiara Bugatti

May 5 – 31, 2023

Chiara Bugatti

Brute Force, Il Bigio (Foolish), 2021

HD video and sound, single screen, subtitled, 14:53 min

Curated by Paola Paleari

The protagonist in the film is the smallest particle of calcium carbonate lodged inside Era Fascista: the 1932 massive sculpture by Arturo Dazzi, made from a single block of Carrara marble, which used to be the centrepiece in the main square of Brescia, Italy. The monument was removed in 1945 and relocated to the city’s outskirts until a decade ago, when it was restored, wrapped in plastic and a container was built around it. Now that the 7.5-meter tall and 52-ton heavy sculpture erected by Mussolini is tucked away in an undisclosed area contaminated by toxic waste, the absurdity of man’s vanity mercilessly appears.

The tiny particle’s only desire is to be set free, dissolve and return to being sand. And eventually, it will, as humanity’s resistance against mortality seems to drive it to actions that enhance the speed of its own collapse. The belligerence of fascist masculinity, the invasiveness of marble mining and the contamination of the ground where the “Bigio” lies, caused by a former pesticide manufacturing plant, are, for the artist, multiple sides of the same coin.

Consumerism has developed a tendency of wanting to separate ourselves from the natural world. Giving language—a soundless, timeless voice—to natural elements in their most basic form is an attempt to flatten the hierarchical system where human development and progress are consistently prioritized.

Credits:

Directed by Chiara Bugatti. Text by Manuel Schwab, camera by Achille Mauri, sound by Tommaso Simonetta. Produced with the support of Konstnärsnämnden The Swedish Arts Grants Committee and Akademie Schloss Solitude.

Chiara Bugatti (b. 1991, Italy) is a visual artist based in Stockholm.

In her practice, she studies objects and tools when they become devoid of their primary function, analysing their physical properties and historical associations, their possibilities of form and impact on their surroundings. Desires, ambitions and future visions become concrete within the built environment, as do failures, refusals and obsolescence. Between construction and decay, and within processes of transformation, materials become mediums to outline systems of power and to explore the space we inhabit. Bugatti addresses these topics through sculptural interventions, installation and video.

Bugatti holds a BFA from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia (2014), an MFA from Umeå Academy of Fine Arts (2016) and a Postmaster from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (2021). She was recently a grant holder at IASPIS in Stockholm and fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart. Her work has been exhibited in institutions across Europe, most recently at Triennale Kleinplastik Fellbach, Mint Konsthall and Carl Eldh’s Studio Museum in Stockholm (2022) and Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (2021).

Manuel Schwab (b. 1977, Germany) lives and works in Cairo and Berlin.

He writes nonfiction on humanity as a strange form of equivalent, and the role of violence in forging our encounters across space and time. His fiction tends to think about objects that have a more vibrant social life than most people can hope for, from manuscripts seeking refuge in the world to currencies to congealed time. He is trained in both Anthropology and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York.

Paola Paleari (b. 1984) is an independent Italian writer, editor, and curator based in Copenhagen. She co-curated the Contemporary Art Program 2021-2022 at Vestjyllands Kunstpavillon and has directed the exhibition platform JIR SANDEL since 2018. She writes extensively about contemporary art and between 2013 and 2018 she covered the position of Deputy Editor at YET magazine. Her main area of interest is the photographic language and its relations with contemporary visual culture and art practices. She is also interested in the intersection between critical and creative writing and often intertwines art criticism with other forms of storytelling.

Chiara Bugatti, Brute Force, Il Bigio (Foolish), 2021, HD video and sound, single screen, subtitled, 14:53 min (video still)