I costruttori del vetro #2

a project by Daniele Maffeis
curated by Kunstverein (Milan) and Alessandra Pioselli
October-November 2015

I costruttori del vetro #2

a project by Daniele Maffeis
curated by Kunstverein (Milan) and Alessandra Pioselli
October-November 2015

SPECIAL GUEST
Takashi Sagishi

SUPPORTED BY
Animacrilyca, TSC (Textile Solution Center), Epson, For-Tex

The project, exhibition and publication focus on today’s glass architecture seen through a retrograde filter: the crystal-glass utopia that distinguished the expressionist architects who gathered around the figure of Bruno Taut (1880-1938).

Press release

* On todays glass architecture as seen through a retrograde lens.
* On the early 19th century crystal-glass utopia or rather German architectural expressionism and it’s current revival.
* On Milan trying to catch up and keep up the pace, but Milan isn’t Taiwan, Taiwan isn’t Dubai.
* On the sex appeal of architectural renderings, failing building contractors, architectures sparkling like pyramids, surrogates of virility and symbols of power.
* On shattered glass and nefarious hands.
* On fiction, simulations and falsification (as long as the scrupulosity is that of the forger).

The project, exhibition and publication focus on today’s glass architecture seen through a retrograde filter: the crystal-glass utopia that distinguished the expressionist architects who gathered around the figure of Bruno Taut (1880-1938).

Starting points are four stories by Paul Scheerbart (1863-1915), writer, visionary essayist, inventor, forerunner and instigator of the so-called Gläserne Kette (Glass chain a.k.a. Utopian Correspondence) group of expressionist architects. Scheerbart strongly believed that architecture had the capacity and the moral obligation to work towards a radical renewal of human civilization. The instrument of this transformation was to be the replacement of the grimy brick with the brightness of glass architecture. Scheerbart’s four stories form the pretext to orchestrate a visual and verbal play of cross-references between the architectural expressionism of the early twentieth century and contemporary glass architecture – with a particular reference to the city of Milan and its recent urban evolution.

The exhibition includes large-scale 3D renderings of urban landscapes, drawings referring to fictional and historical events, a maquette in plexiglass, and sculptural tables, all intertwined with both textual and photographic fragments. Like a puzzle or also like the literary format of Chinese boxes the installation set up by Daniele Maffeis taints and loses itself in continuous references between past and present, in an uncertain balance between historical accuracy and counterfeiting, between archival rigor and simulation.

The project and exhibition are greatly enriched by the extraordinary participation of Takashi Sagishi, connoisseur of the works of Scheerbart. Sagishi will hold a public lecture on Thursday 8 October 2015 at 6:30pm upon the occasion of the opening of the exhibition. Furthermore, a relatively small but impressive historical retrospective centered on some architectural and literary topoi recurrently featured in the production of the various exponents of the glass utopia: Architectonic Apocalypse; Architectonic Metamorphosis; Heroism and Erotism of Building. The historical retrospective is the fruit of a collaboration between Takashi Sagishi (curatorship and archive documents) and Daniele Maffeis (installation).

The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication containing the four narratives by Paul Scheerbart. Published by Kunstverein Publishing, Milano.

A special thank to:
Viviana Algeri, Claudio Nini, Anna Castelli and FAR Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Silvia Marini, Antonio Pasquariello, Simone Longaretti, Mariella Guzzoni, Barbara Ventura and all the Kunstverein (Milano) members.

Biographies

Daniele Maffeis (Bergamo 1982) lives and works in Milan, Italy.
Maffeis graduated in Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology at Milano Bicocca University and proceeded to obtain a degree in Fine Arts from the Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti in Bergamo. He participated in numerous collective and international exhibitions such as: Common Place, curated by Emanuele Rinaldo Meschini, at Rajatila Gallery, Tampere, Finland 2015; SE DI-SEGNO, curated by Sergia Avveduti and Irene Guzman, Bologna 2014; ACADEMY AWARDS, Viafarini DOcVA, Milano, 2012; EVOLUTION DE L’ART, Kunstverein (Milano) co-curated with Valerio del Baglivo, Milano 2012; 100di50, curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio e Marco Scotini, with Kunstverein (Milano) NABA, Milano 2011.
He is curator of Polarexpo, exhibition project for young artists from Bergamo, initiated by the Municipality of Bergamo, Youth Service Department.

Kunstverein (Milano) is an experimental curatorial platform for exhibitions, research and production of contemporary visual art, initiated in 2010. Kunstverein (Milano) is part of a network of sister organisations with Kunstvereins in Amsterdam and New York, and is founded and co-directed by Katia Anguelova, Alessandra Poggianti and Andrea Wiarda.
Kunstverein (Milano) functions as an open and itinerant structure for dialogue and exchange, as a meeting-point, a screening-room and exhibition space.
Its mission is to offer a multifaceted programme in close collaboration with artists, curators, and cultural workers to stimulate experimental exhibition formats. Kunstverein (Milano) implements alternative methods for the presentation of contemporary art practice and research, as well as with regards to hospitality. With this Kunstverein (Milano) contributes in its very own way to both the Italian and international art scenes. The objective finally is to formulate hypotheses and to respond to urgent questions in a totally independent way. www.kunstverein.it