The installation La fabbrica illuminata (The Illuminated Factory) – part of the solo show Velme, curated by Beatrice Merz at Cà Rezzonico, Museo del Settecento Veneziano in Venice – consists of five goldsmith’s workstations that include benches, stools, neon lights, and tools, while a block of raw rock salt, also known as “white gold,” rests on the top of each bench, as if it were about to be processed. With this installation, the artist brings the factory inside the opulent rooms of Ca’ Rezzonico, directly linking the dynamics of natural resource extraction and the associated labor exploitation with the salt related origins of Venice’s eighteenth-century wealth. The title quotes the piece La fabbrica illuminata (The Illuminated Factory), composed in 1964 by Luigi Nono and dedicated to the workers at Italsider in Genoa-Cornigliano.
The Illuminated Factory
2017
Five goldsmiths’ workbenches, five stools, five blocks of rock-salt, 40 x 40 x 40 cm each, lights, hand tools, environmental dimensions. Installation view Cà Rezzonico, Museo del Settecento Veneziano, Venice; Ex-Monte dei Pegni di Santa Rosalia, Palazzo Branciforte, Palermo. Photo by Renato Ghiazza, Roberto Marossi, Sandro Scalia. Courtesy: the artist; Fondazione Merz, Turin
