In a 1930 essay titled Avvertimenti, the art critic Massimo Bontempelli describes how a work can be generated in a ‘higher sphere’, where, by utilizing sounds and noises, it manages to emerge as a fabulous invention and an expression of a joyful lyrical outpouring [1]. Therefore, the sound traces necessary for this ‘outpouring’ are conceived as physical actions, a rich repertoire of gestures and movements that, along with the devices used in production, raise several issues. Among these there are: the instruments useful for creating sound, the nature of the functional act – as a result of a balanced mechanical behavior in relation to its expressive capacity – along with the experiential and performative dimension.
Iginio De Luca, “Carborundum”, Litografia Bulla, ph. Credit Luis Do Rosario, courtesy the Artist and Litografia Bulla, Rome
It follows that from these premises, one arrives at a natural transformation of the classical artistic experience, where, in place of the usual dominance of the visual image, the sound that replaces it generates its opposite: a work devoid of material, physical and tangible consistency, an immaterial sound timbre that, released freely into space, becomes impermanent. Furthermore, the acoustic production opens up various questions, such as how sound can be conceived as an artwork, how it can be integrated into the act of creation and how it can be made accessible. These stimulating issues are explored with technical depth and thorough investigation by Iginio De Luca at Litografia Bulla in Rome in the project titled Carborundum.
Iginio De Luca, “Carborundum”, Litografia Bulla, ph. Credit Luis Do Rosario, courtesy the Artist and Litografia Bulla, Rome
Among the particularly unique elements of this project there is the research and dialogue between the artist and the owners, Beatrice and Flaminia Bulla, who, together with Romolo Bulla, have been managing the historic workshop in Rome for seven generations. In fact, in Litografia Bulla, the artists’ participatory interventions are not intended solely to produce works within the studio; rather, they are developments of research aimed at creating new modes and forms of production, always variable depending on who is involved. In this case, De Luca worked with the ancient lithographic stones, and the sound produced during the erasure process was recorded onto vinyl and translated into acoustic tracks, then reproduced as a lithographic print. The artist was able to fully exploit the tools of the historic workshop, finding a way to interpret them around one of the main focuses of his research, namely sound. However, despite the production process being clear and almost mechanical, a human introspection always emerges, at times dark, because the value of the disappearance of the visual trace on the lithographic stone is highlighted in an event-like dimension[2].
Iginio De Luca, “Carborundum”, Litografia Bulla, ph. Credit Luis Do Rosario, courtesy the Artist and Litografia Bulla, Rome
Thus, the erasure of the lithographic stones and the sound produced are elements of a physical process from which the deeper aspect of the entire operation emerges, born from the artist’s introspective concentration at the moment of friction, in opposition to the ancient silence of the workshop. What happens is a reconsideration of the craft tools used locally, which, before being rethought and used as such, are considered a natural extension of the senses. Therefore, Carborundum is an interesting investigation into the physical consistency of the visual trace and the material’s resistance to friction. It is a ritualistic operation, bringing together seemingly incompatible elements: the resemblance between the object and its image, now definitively erased, alongside the sound generated by this process, which transforms into an eternal, infinitely reproducible trace, thus tangible and, ultimately, visible.
Iginio De Luca, “Carborundum”, Litografia Bulla, ph. Credit Luis Do Rosario, courtesy the Artist and Litografia Bulla, Rome
Thus, the project cannot be separated in any way from the place in which it was originated and will not be able to exist truly on its own, because the components, such as the cleaning of the lithographic stone and its recording, lead elsewhere. That is, to the value of the trace and the lithographic imprint, following a strictly circular process in which the mark on the stone is erased and then the sound generated is re-etched. All these moments are part of a process that reveals the rawness of the materials, resulting in an exploration of the tools of cultural objects from Litografia Bulla, which are rich in material patinas and carriers of both visible and invisible gestures, catalysts of energy and memory. In this sense, the soundtrack, at times shrill and sharp, is capable of telling the porosity of the material itself and its chemical reaction. It is a form of immediate communication about the change of a physical state, but also a regenerative act that contributes to the sense of the material transformation of sound traces, which do not remain neutral, as they carry the sense of transformation.
Iginio De Luca, “Carborundum”, Litografia Bulla, ph. Credit Luis Do Rosario, courtesy the Artist and Litografia Bulla, Rome
In this way, the physics of the action and the resulting friction sound produced, before being anything other than noise, represents the natural and necessary need of the workshop practice to erase traces in order to make way for new ones. So, why not consider Carborundum as an experience of unusual synesthesia? It certainly is, as the coexistence of opposing elements and actions strengthens the ephemeral aspect, and with De Luca, the act of erasure can be metaphorically understood as the gesture that animates the rhythm of the entire sound imprint. Furthermore, the use of silicon carbide powder, which is abrasively used to clean the stones, leads one to think that what is proposed revolves around subtraction, from which a lively interest in the discard, emerges. It is certain that in the only printed lithograph and the etched vinyl records, which carry the sound traces of the erasures, there is a profound statement about the perception of the world, as well as a final, sweet farewell ritual of what another artist, before De Luca, had fixed in the lithographic stone. It is the most intimate narration, living in the workshop in different material states, which now emerges as the result of a performative action in which all the elements shake in a silent harmony.
Maria Vittoria Pinotti
[1] Massimo Bontempelli, L’avventura Novecentista, in Realismo Magico e altri scritti d’arte, , curated by Elena Pontiggia, Abscondita, Milan, 2006, p. 50.
[2] According to this term, the artwork is generated by a process of an action that has the character of an event.
Info:
Iginio De Luca. Carborundum
Litografia Bulla
Via del Vantaggio 2, Roma
25/10/2024 – 20/12/2024
By appointment only
www.litografiabulla.com
Maria Vittoria Pinotti (1986, San Benedetto del Tronto) is an art historian, author, and independent critic. She currently is the coordinator of Claudio Abate’s photographic archive and Manager at Elena Bellantoni’s Studio. From 2016 to 2023 she was the Gallery Manager in a gallery in the historic center of Rome. She has worked with ministerial offices such as the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Culture and the Central State Archive. Currently, she collaborates with cultural sector magazines, focusing on in-depth thematic studies dedicated to modern and contemporary art.
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