The Plus Theatre

Business, culture and training meet natural stone

Hall 10

Herbarium Mirabile

Curator and author: Raffaello Galiotto

Historically, an herbarium is a collection of dried herbs that describes their medicinal virtues. To the less experienced eye, herbaria are also an exciting showcase of species that differ in their unique forms. Each variety arranged orderly on each page, attracts curiosity for the creative and often extravagant formal response that nature is capable of creating for the survival needs of the species.

The exhibition Herbarium Mirabile takes inspiration from these marvellous plant geometries to present itself to visitors as a lithic botanical garden composed of fifteen marble sculptures. All the artworks have been designed using advanced parametric 3D modelling software and crafted with high-precision computer numerical control (CNC) machines. Each sculpture is created through the synergistic collaboration of leading exhibiting companies in various sectors of the stone industry: machinery production, processing, and extraction. The decision to forgo traditional manual finishing techniques and the exclusive use of machines demonstrates the experimental and avant-garde nature of the exhibition, which aims to explore this new expressive language. Within a rectangular space enclosed by semi-transparent canvas walls, the artworks rise above flat slabs of Botticino marble resting on a bed of coarse gravel. The arrangement is irregular, but the sculptures are adequately spaced to allow visitors to explore each artwork.

Opere — aziende

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

The Plus Theatre

Herbarium Mirabile

ACANTHUS

Production
Gmm
Material
Vitoria Regia Verde by Brasigran

The project follows the symmetric compositional logic of leaves. The basic design of the lobe is composed of brush-brushed, curved paths tangent to the vertical axis of symmetry. The entire figure is obtained through specular repetition and scaling of the basic design. To complete the tripartite form, an undulating border is added, obtained through a double asymmetric but coinciding processing.

ACUTUM

Production and machinery
Prussiani Engineering
Tools
Diamond Service
Software
DDX
Material
Bronzite by Decolores

The tapered vertical shape of the artwork is achieved through milling with a disc on an interpolated lathe using individual staggered cutting paths orthogonal to the longitudinal axis. Note the slight tapering downwards achieved by gradually bringing the paths closer to the central axis.

ALOACEA

Production
Margraf
Material
Verde Giada

The tapered, curved, V-shaped cleft is the result of a double disc-milling pass at a variable angle on a three-dimensional toolpath. The consequent perimeter walls follow the same guideline that ripples on the two edges with a pointed, undulating movement.

APORO

Production
Omag
Material
Bianco Carrara

The sharp thorns emerging from Aporo’s tapered columnar trunk are produced with a diamond-tipped disc using just two longitudinal milling grooves, overlaid and repeated radially a full six times.

BILOBA

Production
Generelli
Machinery
Biesse
Tools
Diamut
Material
Palissandro by Gruppo Tosco Marmi

The artwork is composed of two symmetric lobes created by a dense sequence of curved milling paths, worked with a disc, branching out in a fan-like manner from the base stem. The machining on one side intersects with that on the other at the edge, creating the characteristic serrated perimeter.

CRISPATUM

Production and machinery
Prussiani Engineering
Tools
Diamond Service
Software
DDX
Material
Nuvolato di Gré by Marini Marmi

At the base of the project, there are only two undulating and staggered paths. Their repetition on all eight faces allows for a full-round machining of the artwork. The machining is done with a disc using an interpolated lathe milling tool.

CYNARA

Production
Generelli
Material
Grand Antique

The thorny, radially symmetrical shape of the work derives from the overlaid, criss-crossing toolpaths of the milling disc. The complex handling of the disc during the processing operation is carried out by a seven-axis robot arm.

DICOTOMO

Production
Kramer Steinmetzbetrieb
Machinery
Emmedue
Tools
Nicolai Diamant
Software
DDX
Material
Sodalite by Decolores

The elongated extension of the contiguous border along the axis accentuates the symmetric shape of the two joined parts of the sculpture. The machining is performed with a disc based on two paths, doubly duplicated and mirrored.

EULYCHNIA

Production
Margraf
Material
Verde Imperiale

The piece’s ridged shape, which is symmetrical both lengthwise and widthwise, is the result of a single toolpath repeated symmetrically four times. The disc-milling operation runs along the split line of the guide route, generating at once the slopes and the serrations at the edges.

GORGONIA

Production
Odone Angelo
Material
Palissandro Reale by Gruppo Tosco Marmi

The design of the undulating, deformed toolpaths of the piece is achieved using software to vary certain parameters of the algorithm. The formal complexity deriving from the opposing milling action requires an advance feasibility check carried out using a virtual simulation.

OPUNTIA

Production
Odone Angelo
Material
Verde Saint Denis

The delicate pointed protuberances are the result of high-precision alternate milling toolpaths, created using a circular tool in brush mode. To avoid collisions and enable pointed cuts on this ellipsoidal shape, it is necessary to apply differentiated control over the angle of the milling headstock.

PENTACACTO

Production
Omag
Material
Bianco Carrara

The five radial plates, characterised by light surface undulation, are worked by the milling disc. The entire piece is created using a single longitudinal milling route, mirrored and repeated five times.

PERFORATUM

Production and machinery
Prussiani Engineering
Tools
Diamond Service
Software
DDX
Material
Nuvolato di Gré by Marini Marmi

The artwork is obtained through machining with a disc using an interpolated lathe milling tool. The two wavy and twisted paths are alternated on the four faces and partially intersect in pairs to generate the central elliptical perforations.

PRISTIS

Production
Margraf
Material
Green Lime

The entire, undulating, tapered element is made by means of six milling toolpaths created using a disc in brush mode. The slight torsion of the two faces connotes control of the five-axis movements, with the milling headstock angled to avoid collisions due to obstruction.

QUERCUS

Production
Decormarmi
Machinery
Pellegrini Meccanica
Material
Amazonita by Granistone

The three-dimensional shape of the artwork is achieved through only three cuts using a diamond wire. The undulating edge of the margin and the dorsal line of symmetry result from the precise alignment of the three consecutive cuts.

RUBUS

Production
Salesiani San Zeno – Scuola della Formazione Professionale
Settore Arte e Automazione del Marmo – Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella
Tools
Nicolai Diamant
Material
Azul Macaubas

The project explores the peculiarities of compositional symmetry by juxtaposing the mirrored open veining of the marble with the symmetric design of the machining paths in relation to the axis of the artwork. The complexity of the deep incisions, worked with a semi-spherical tool, contrasts with the hardness of Azul Macaubas: a challenge between mechanical performance and the tenacity of the stone material.

VALVATIDA

Production
Generelli
Material
Pocahontas

The construction geometry of this eight-pointed work is radially symmetrical. The undulating route taken by the milling disc makes it possible to achieve both the lined edge round the perimeter and the edging of the central cavity. The working of the lower side intersects with the upper toolpaths, producing the characteristic central hole.

LANDSCAPE

Consorzio Marmisti Bresciani
boulders:
production and material
Botticino by Marco di Butturini Remo & F.lli, Breccia Aurora by Marmi Ghirardi

The installation alludes to a rocky landscape formed by Botticino and Breccia Aurora marble boulders. The boulders, suitably flattened at the same height, punctuate the open space with a careful layout, creating the support surface for each work.