spirituality - lesson 26: enzo mari

this lesson is about the italian designer enzo mari and how scientific rigour makes it possible to question antiquated cultures in an attempt to grasp the true meaning of things. maris art and design work serves to convey meaning. he fully uses the the principles of dialectic: thesisis, anthithesis, synthesis. contestations are records of that ideological and formal commitment that emerges constantly in maris approach to work. his researches into symbols, the symbolic charges of his works reveal a systematic approach of a scientific treatise. for mari work appears as the moment when the experience of art and all reality confront each other dialectically, always suspended between two extremes: reality (often a situation to be refuted) and the utopistic vision (how it should be). it is not just a matter of abstract statements, out of any real context, but always related to a personal contingent reality, ones personal desire to denounce and clarify ones ideological choice which explains the motivations. he presents a model inviting fellow artists and designers to 1-declare their own utopian vision of the future of society, 2-define the strategy they retain useful for the creation of the utopia, 3-say which tactical stage of this strategy they have reached and 4position the research work conducted in that tactical stage'.

labyrinth - there are no alternatives, serigraph, 1967

seven dwarfs enzo mari in his art installation dialogue between pheidias, galileo, duchamp, the seven dwarfs and the idiot, exhibited at the venice biennial in 1986, says: there is nostalgia for pheidias who was able to reconcile the objective with the sacred, touching the absolute in the representation. there is respect and admiration for galileo who accomplished the painful act of separating the objective from the

sacred, dispelling the illusory stratagem of representation. duchamp perpetrates the inevitable historical catastrophe, denying in short objectivity, the sacred and representation. we are the seven dwarves in love with snow white (art?), the illusion of what is now pointless representation, narcissistically placing ourselves at its centre. the idiot, with his tragic common sense understands the problem and hopes for the return of the absolute, over and above representation, in the force of a new concept of god-nature.

enzo mari in his art installation dialogue between pheidias, galileo, duchamp, the seven dwarves and the idiot, at the venice biennial in 1986. here the speech bubble says : today, we represent ourselves subjectively, because of the absence of idea. - for the greek philosopher plato ideas are subsistent realities, distinct both from the mind that possesses them and the material objects in which they appear. ideas are eternal, immovable. opposed to the world of ideas there is chaos, the element which receives the form. KITSCH! mirrors in his art installation allegory of dignity a long mirror with a row of prie-dieu implies the harsh statement of a call to dignity urging a practice of answering first and foremost to oneself which confirms the rejection of forms of delegation. this theme has already been explored in an earlier installation entitled modulo. again the subject is a man in front of a mirror. an invitation to face your reflective image, an experience of void and absence, a difficult exercise of the mind reflecting on itself. another work of many similar research elements is maris antiTV, from 1991, an artwork that stimulates thought and awareness. the spectator is expected to participate actively. it consist of a tiny TV screen surrounded by a big mirror, relating you to the TV transmission of shows, news, whatever.

allegory of dignity art installation, 1988

modulo, art installation, 1967

inside the modulo, art installation, 1967.

ecology we know that much of the price we pay for bottled water or other drinks, as too for detergents or other consumer products, goes towards the cost of packaging and the label. these are condensed advertising messages. we are paying more for these messages than for the contents. mari, in his ecolo project uses PET bottles metaphorically. the never ending proliferation of new forms without new content. forms last longer in our minds than disposable products. the uncontrolled proliferation of the forms that constitute our cities and our perception. the ironic instructions of the ecolo flower vase are therefore an allegory of a happy, but not equivocal, coexistence with modern decay. ecolo could be obtained as follows - by purchasing the distinctive label of authenticity and the instruction booklet with maris sketches. you can make the vases by experimenting with different cuts. - by purchasing a vase already made by the famed designer, at a cost more than 70% higher than the first option. - by purchasing an art collection in limited edition, where each vase is not only hand-picked by enzo mari and cut into iconic shapes, but also hand-signed and dated. contained in an exclusive wooden box. cost was 700% higher than the second option. (the italian design company alessi produced about 100 boxes, and presented them in milan with a live show spectacle by mari himself (producing vases). they sold out immediately. today they are collectors pieces and are re-sold in auctions... do you see similarity to the contemporary art scene?

ecolo making instructions - sketch by enzo mari

ecolo making instructions - sketch by enzo mari

ecolo making instructions - sketch by enzo mari

ecolo, 1995 set of four flower vases made of used PET plastic containers. produced by alessi in limited edition display boxes cm 50.7 x cm 29.4 - h cm 10.8

doing is thinking with your hands mari does not believe in the myth of the good savage, he believes that we live in

the megalonecropolis of neo-capitalism like robinson on his island. in order to survive he makes tools with which to build a place to live in. mari is right, everyone should design: after all it is the best way to avoid being designed. what intellectual work or artistic research must not produce is the prefiguration of falsely definitive, reactionary and ahistorical comportmental models, it must highlight the contradictions in this world of ostriches he says.