The Plus Theatre

CULTURAL PROJECTS 2022

Hall 10

VISIONARY STONE

Curator and author: Raffaello Galiotto
experimental works of art in natural stone processed with CNC technology

VISIONARY STONE is an exhibition of works of art in natural stone designed using parametric software and carved entirely with CNC machinery. The exhibition involves nine stone sculptures inspired by the natural forms found in the animal and plant kingdom. They are guided by compositional logics such as symmetry and phylloctaxis, halfway between a fossil find and the beached exoskeleton of marine animals. A visionary collection that stirs up the debate between natural and artificial, prompted by a new expressive language where natural stone meets the digital world in an antithetical relationship between materiality and immateriality, between robot and human. Stone worked in this way, with perceptive, visual and tactile milling of very high precision, invites observers into a physical experience through impressively evocative and appealing aesthetic expression and meanings that go far beyond a merely technical exercise.

The works are arranged on three exhibit islands also in stone, as an integral part of the show, grouped in a single space like a small archipelago. Each island measures 2.5 x 9 metres and is characterized by a hilly base of stratified stone slabs shaped by machinery. The exhibition – hosted in The Plus Theatre in Hall 10 – is curated and designed by Raffaello Galiotto. It was developed together with a group of companies of excellence in processing and the construction of machinery in the natural stone sector.

Works — Companies

CAULA — Emmedue, Etna Stone & Design, DDX, Nicolai Diamant
PORA — Generelli
PROTO I — Gmm, DDX, Gruppo Tosco Marmi O.M.G., Scuola Tecnica del Marmo - Settore Arte e Automazione, Sant’Ambrogio Di Valpolicella
PROTO II — Gmm, Gruppo Tosco Marmi O.M.G., Alphacam by Licom Systems
PROTO III — Generelli, Gruppo Tosco Marmi O.M.G.
STELLATA — Odone Angelo, Nikolaus Bagnara
TESTUDO — Odone Angelo, Nikolaus Bagnara
TRUNCUS I – II — Margraf
PARAMETRIC STONE LANDSCAPE — Bianco Cave by Fato Stone

Visionary Stone

EXHIBITIONS

Caula

Production
Etna Stone & Design
Machinery
Emmedue
Tools
Nicolai Diamant
Software
DDX
Material
Bianco Carrara
Measurements
122x103x28 cm

The upper surface of this ‘abyssal creature’ is characterised by an opposing symmetrical shape and is divided into adjacent areas obtained by brushing the marble with a disc. The laminated part underneath is visible right up to the walls of the rounded edges and is engraved with radial milling paths.

Pora

Production
Generelli
Material
Marmo di Arzo
Measurements
74,5×95,5×15 cm

Pora is halfway between the marine inspiration of mollusc exoskeletons and the woody conformations of plant seeds. A lithic interpretation of fascinating natural forms translated into numerical paths and computerized marble processing.

Proto I

Production
Scuola Tecnica del Marmo
Settore Arte e Automazione
Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella
Machinery
Gmm
Tools
Nicolai Diamant
Bonding chemicals
Tenax
Material
Palissandro Reale
by Gruppo Tosco Marmi O.M.G.
Measurements
61×132,5×17,5 cm

The work is conceived as a computer-drawn primary element from which other forms can be generated. Distinguished by the book matched Rosewood marble, the sculpture evokes the seascape and internal structures of an unknown being. The natural material, with its unrepeatable textures, gives uniqueness to the potentially replicable form.

Proto II

Production
Gmm
Software
Alphacam by Licom Systems
Material
Palissandro Reale
by Gruppo Tosco Marmi O.M.G.
Measurements
118x113x20 cm

According to natural evolutionary logic, in this work, the parameters of the initial computer algorithm (Proto I) that generated the form were varied, extending, amplifying or reducing its parts, to give rise to a ‘new species’. The work’s small, delicate protuberances denote the subtlety and fragility of superb numerical workmanship.

Proto III

Production
Generelli
Material
Palissandro Oniciato
by Gruppo Tosco Marmi O.M.G.
Measurements
147,5×83,5×20 cm

The original lithic form (Proto I, Proto II) becomes more complex, it ripples, takes on body and expands, extending its wings perhaps to leave the liquid world to soar into the gaseous one. The eyelet openings are produced by the intersection of the milling paths of the surfaces, front and back, and emphasise the precision of the symmetrical workmanship and the compactness of the material.

Stellata

Production
Odone Angelo
Material
Rosa Norvegia by Nikolaus Bagnara
Measurements
109,5x71x11,5 cm

Just as an internal structure of a body is molded by the surrounding limbs, so the marble work is worked by sinuous paths set against discs in brushing. The fascinating similarity stimulates reflection on the incidence of working methods (methodology, precision, marks, surface quality) in relation to creative intent and correspondence with the designed form.

Testudo

Production
Odone Angelo
Material
Rosa Norvegia by Nikolaus Bagnara
Measurements
118x48x14 cm

Like the carapace of an animal, the hard but permeable shell seems to protect the hypothetical soft limbs that once, perhaps, pulsed beneath. Sensations evoked by the Rosa Norvegia marble that enhances the elongated organic form thanks to the white, crystalline tongues included in its pinkish background.

Truncus I

Production
Margraf
Material
Rosa Peralba by Margraf
Measurements
115,5×84,5×39,5 cm

The essentiality of the disc milling paths contrasts with the strong visceral organicity of the form. The especially selected Rosa Peralba marble changes the perceptive sensation of the material from mineral to animal.

Truncus II

Production
Margraf
Material
Rosa Peralba by Margraf
Measurements
157x70x34 cm

The apparent fragility of the lithic skeleton conceals skilful computerized structural design and precise numerical processing. Digital immateriality and lithic materiality merge in this large thoracic structure as a kind of unknown remnant of an imaginary world.

Parametric stone landscape

Production
Bianco Cave by Fato Stone
Material
Pietra Leccese by Fato Stone
Measurements
230×900 cm

The project aims to restore a hilly trend of strong three-dimensionality while minimising the use of material. The Pietra Leccese in slabs was processed with numerically controlled machines capable of precisely producing all the components required to create the shape. The final, hollow relief is composed of the dry superimposition of all the elements produced.