THE WEIGHT OF STARS

Introduction by Viviana Quattrini

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Per aspera sic itur ad astra - Through the roughness to the stars.  Starting from the fascination for myth, cosmology and travel, Luca Giannini's research addresses the issues of migration, the encounter between cultures and the investigation of matter by asking questions about recurring beliefs and symbols. His work digs into matter and conceptual form, thus expressing himself through the poles of the real and the signifier.

The artist's attention focuses on both the metaphysical and structural aspect of the cosmos in which the stars are the fundamental components capable of providing unequivocal clues about our origin. The origin is investigated through symbols that are both those derived from the chemistry of the elements and those of the circle and the book. In this sense, mythology, theology, chemistry, astronomy come together in a particular, restless and alchemical vision of the universe. Through the wise use of materials, Luca Giannini reflects on the internal balance of the elements that form us. These ones derive from the universe and refer us to it in a relationship that should not be altered but preserved, such as the artist recovers the material from neglect and reconstructs its meaning.

In this way there is always a close relationship between the material and the concept represented: iron refers to the element synthesis processes producing energy inside stars and, being the heaviest element that can be created by hydrogen through nuclear fusion reactions, for the stars themselves represents a boundary capable of regulating their fate; gold is a metaphor for a lost age of harmony with creation longed for in all eras, but also the ultimate and incorruptible stage of alchemical matter; ash, as a residue of combustion, refers to destruction, but also to the rites of purification and rebirth as well as to the fertility of the earth.

The theme of the routes is linked to mythology and migration but also to the possibility of orientation that the stars have always offered to humanity, and to the desire of man to know himself through the journey that leads him to rediscover his origins and own fate.

Whether they are ungovernable and frightening forces dictated by a supreme order or physical laws of a universe still to be discovered, beginning and end just as what we call order and chaos, Eros and Thanatos are fundamental components of our existence.

The artist shows the implications and some stories that have investigated this interesting and mysterious topic by offering us through his vision an interesting and constantly evolving food for our thought.