Matteo Nasini, Notturno Smarrito
Curated
by Davide Daninos
15.09.2023
–
21.10.2023
Associazione Barriera
Via
Crescentino, 25, Torino
Notturno
smarrito
combines and reshuffles the experiments carried out by artist Matteo
Nasini to translate the secret movements of sleeping brains and the
distant orbits of stars into sculptural and aural outcomes.
With
this new exhibition at Barriera, wandering stars and dreamlike
landscapes come together to transport the spectators on a sonic and
performative journey, to be experienced as a nocturnal concert and a
sculptural archive of dreams.
For
more than ten years Matteo Nasini (Rome, 1976) has been combining his
techniques – from sculptural research to sonic experiments and
technological innovations – to build sensitive tools and
experimental machines capable of finding answers to seemingly
impossible questions.
What
unites the act of dreaming with the wandering of celestial bodies in
the sky? What is the sound of the stars? What is the shape of dreams?
To
find answers to these questions, Nasini has created new devices,
combining tools and know-hows from multiple fields, such as
neuro-aesthetics, speculative astronomy, and theoretical physics. The
dialogue between aesthetic and technological research defines
Nasini’s
works, thanks to various collaborations with scientists,
musicologists, craftsmen, coders, and theoretical physicists.
Notturno
smarrito
combines and mixes two previous experiments, Sparkling
Matter
and Welcome
Wanderer,
dedicated respectively to reshaping the nocturnal movements of
sleeping brains and celestial bodies into aural and sculptural forms.
In
Sparkling
Matter
(2016-ongoing),
using electrodes applied to the cortex of sleeping subjects, the
artist records the electro-chemical activity produced during one or
more sleep cycles. The linear trace of the EEG thus created is then
rotated on the same axis through 3D modeling software to be
translated into a geometric solid that is, subsequently, printed in
porcelain with a three-dimensional printer.
“These
cylindrical and conical shapes still keep track of all the hidden
intuitions of our resting mind,” explains curator Davide Daninos.
“Through
them we can observe the quality and duration of dreams, discovering
their hidden syntax, made up of leaps, interruptions and depressions.
It is the mind that, unbeknownst to itself, carves the trajectory of
its secret life into matter.”
In
Welcome
Wanderer
(2021-ongoing),
it is the solitary journey of stars in our Milky Way that is now
traced. Using the vast ESA (European Space Agency) star catalogue,
their orbits are translated into a chorus of human voices and
electronic sounds. A dialogue capable of making us perceive the
vastness of our galaxy through sighs and random encounters among over
four billion stars.
Whenever
a star orbits in its wandering over Barriera, the distance from the
exhibition space, as well as the size and temperature of the
celestial body, are immediately translated by a software into sound,
thus producing an automatic and everchanging polyphony.
A
video also translates the experience of these encounters, showcasing
the celestial bodies with synthetic geometries, immersed in the black
and empty backdrop of our universe. “Such
darkness expresses the vastness that separates the stars in our
sparsely populated galaxy,” Daninos
continues. “Their
gentle collision over our position or with another stellar wanderer
is therefore celebrated with a different sigh, noise or murmur,
creating a slow but inexorable polyphonic chant. A chorus of human
and synthetic voices, whose intensity is controlled by the quality
and duration of these sidereal caresses.”
Lastly,
what makes this new episode unique is the performance Notturno
smarrito
(2023), that combines for the first time the artist’s
two fields of research: dreams and stars.
“These
phenomena, which speak to us from distant and mysterious dimensions,”
the artist explains, “share
the impossibility of being fully understood in their boundless and
unheard-of manifestations. Their ephemeral experience is combined
with the evocative power of sound, a tool for the imagination, which
alone can approach their essence.”
The
performance showcases new soundscapes created by Nasini to evoke the
memory of possible dreams. During the opening night, these sounds are
played in real time by the movement of the celestial bodies wandering
above the spaces of Barriera.
These
automatic compositions – generated by the collaboration between
dreamscapes, movements of the stars and computational power – are
then the vehicle for our nocturnal imagination to travel between
dreams, stars and wandering planets.
smarrito
combines and reshuffles the experiments carried out by artist Matteo
Nasini to translate the secret movements of sleeping brains and the
distant orbits of stars into sculptural and aural outcomes.
With
this new exhibition at Barriera, wandering stars and dreamlike
landscapes come together to transport the spectators on a sonic and
performative journey, to be experienced as a nocturnal concert and a
sculptural archive of dreams.
For
more than ten years Matteo Nasini (Rome, 1976) has been combining his
techniques – from sculptural research to sonic experiments and
technological innovations – to build sensitive tools and
experimental machines capable of finding answers to seemingly
impossible questions.
What
unites the act of dreaming with the wandering of celestial bodies in
the sky? What is the sound of the stars? What is the shape of dreams?
To
find answers to these questions, Nasini has created new devices,
combining tools and know-hows from multiple fields, such as
neuro-aesthetics, speculative astronomy, and theoretical physics. The
dialogue between aesthetic and technological research defines
Nasini’s
works, thanks to various collaborations with scientists,
musicologists, craftsmen, coders, and theoretical physicists.
Notturno
smarrito
combines and mixes two previous experiments, Sparkling
Matter
and Welcome
Wanderer,
dedicated respectively to reshaping the nocturnal movements of
sleeping brains and celestial bodies into aural and sculptural forms.
In
Sparkling
Matter
(2016-ongoing),
using electrodes applied to the cortex of sleeping subjects, the
artist records the electro-chemical activity produced during one or
more sleep cycles. The linear trace of the EEG thus created is then
rotated on the same axis through 3D modeling software to be
translated into a geometric solid that is, subsequently, printed in
porcelain with a three-dimensional printer.
“These
cylindrical and conical shapes still keep track of all the hidden
intuitions of our resting mind,” explains curator Davide Daninos.
“Through
them we can observe the quality and duration of dreams, discovering
their hidden syntax, made up of leaps, interruptions and depressions.
It is the mind that, unbeknownst to itself, carves the trajectory of
its secret life into matter.”
In
Welcome
Wanderer
(2021-ongoing),
it is the solitary journey of stars in our Milky Way that is now
traced. Using the vast ESA (European Space Agency) star catalogue,
their orbits are translated into a chorus of human voices and
electronic sounds. A dialogue capable of making us perceive the
vastness of our galaxy through sighs and random encounters among over
four billion stars.
Whenever
a star orbits in its wandering over Barriera, the distance from the
exhibition space, as well as the size and temperature of the
celestial body, are immediately translated by a software into sound,
thus producing an automatic and everchanging polyphony.
A
video also translates the experience of these encounters, showcasing
the celestial bodies with synthetic geometries, immersed in the black
and empty backdrop of our universe. “Such
darkness expresses the vastness that separates the stars in our
sparsely populated galaxy,” Daninos
continues. “Their
gentle collision over our position or with another stellar wanderer
is therefore celebrated with a different sigh, noise or murmur,
creating a slow but inexorable polyphonic chant. A chorus of human
and synthetic voices, whose intensity is controlled by the quality
and duration of these sidereal caresses.”
Lastly,
what makes this new episode unique is the performance Notturno
smarrito
(2023), that combines for the first time the artist’s
two fields of research: dreams and stars.
“These
phenomena, which speak to us from distant and mysterious dimensions,”
the artist explains, “share
the impossibility of being fully understood in their boundless and
unheard-of manifestations. Their ephemeral experience is combined
with the evocative power of sound, a tool for the imagination, which
alone can approach their essence.”
The
performance showcases new soundscapes created by Nasini to evoke the
memory of possible dreams. During the opening night, these sounds are
played in real time by the movement of the celestial bodies wandering
above the spaces of Barriera.
These
automatic compositions – generated by the collaboration between
dreamscapes, movements of the stars and computational power – are
then the vehicle for our nocturnal imagination to travel between
dreams, stars and wandering planets.
BIO
After
graduating from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, and becoming
a member of the Luigi Cherubini orchestra directed by Riccardo Muti,
Matteo Nasini (Rome, 1976) began his practice as a visual artist.
Among
the most important exhibitions and projects, Sparkling Matter is
presented in 2016 in the spaces of Marsèlleria and Clima, Milan. In
the same year it wins the 2016 Talent Prize and was exhibited at
MACRO and GNAM in Rome and, in 2017, it is part of the Intuition
exhibition
at Palazzo Fortuny, Venice.
Neolithic
Sunshine was exhibited firstly in 2018 at the Pescheria Visual Arts
Center in Pesaro and at Clima, Milan; in 2019 at Fontfroide Abbey,
Narbonne and in 2023 it is presented at Villa Medici, Rome;
Cittadellarte, Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella and on Vulcano island
for the Volcanic Attitude festival. Since 2021, the Welcome
Wanderer project
has been presented at Cubo, Bologna; Clima, Milan and at Ocean Space,
Venice.
Nasini
has exhibited in numerous other institutions such as MANIFESTA13,
MAXXI, Nomas Foundation, Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, Villa
Croce Museum in Genoa, Villa Romana in Florence, Orto Botanico in
Palermo, EDF Foundation – Paris La Defance, Espace Le Carré
– Palais Beaux-Art of Lille, La Panacée
of Montpellier, Mrac of Serignan, ICC, Hammer Museum of Los Angeles
and Royal Museum of Worcester.