Between the forest

On the one hand, a poetic inspiration based on the idea of a garden with its roots – as one may well say – in the western philosophical tradition; on the other, a radically different concept that embodies the seeds of the Japanese garden.

When comparing various installations in an exhibition, as was the case for Lithic Garden at Marmomac 2019, it is very stimulating to see how natural stone can be used by apparently extremely different purposes that nevertheless equally demonstrate the infinite potential of this material and how it is processed.

Losing your way in black and white

Hortus Lithicus by Vincenzo Latina is imagined as an essential enclosure divided into two parts, one in Aurisina marble and the other in panels of Nero Africa granite. The chromatic contrast between the two materials is further emphasised by the apparent depth of the water basin, itself further amplified by a mirror placed on the bottom. Inside the basin, tall steel stems and fragments of Aurisina marble suggest an abstract idea of a forest where paths – expanded by the play of reflections – seem to be lost and broken. The spatial artefact was achieved thanks to close dialogue between the designer and the Pizzul Marmi Aurisina and Zenith C companies.

Drops of Stone

The symbolic, sinuous trunks forming the backdrop to Stone Forest by Setsu & Shinobu Ito is given the task of marking off the scope of hypothetical undergrowth, inside which a fountain represents the place where life is born. Trunks, fountains, pools and ripples – a series of discs having various diameters and surface engravings – express an intense stone life, masterfully rendered through Bardiglio, Calacatta, Statuarietto and Carrara materials supplied and processed with great skill and attention to detail by Errebi Marmi. Depiction of the fusion between beauty and nature in marble.