The Underneath the Arches programme continues to interweave contemporary art and archaeology with the exhibition Spirit Level, a project by the artists Vibeke Mascini and Chaveli Sifre – Dutch and German artists born in 1989 and 1987 respectively – hosted in the evocative remains of the Augustan Aqueduct of Serino, located in the Rione Sanità area in Naples. Until 1 December 2024, the two artists propose a site-specific intervention that explores the complexity of the water cycle and its link with spirituality and technology.
Vibeke Mascini-Chaveli Sifre, “Spirit Level”, UNDETRNEATH THE ARCHES, artwork detail, Acquedotto augusteo del Serino, Napoli, 2024, photo credit Maurizio Esposito
The title of the exhibition, Spirit Level, refers as much to the ‘level’ as an instrument for measuring balance as to the idea of a constant tension towards harmony. Mascini and Sifre evoke a process of ‘creating water from nothing’ by collecting the moisture that oozes from the ancient walls of the Roman aqueduct. This water, an emblem of transformation and regeneration, is encapsulated within ‘levels’, transparent and vibrant objects that transform the entire exhibition space into a kind of interactive device. The concept of balance, fragile and precarious, becomes a metaphor for the human existential quest and for the instability that characterizes the city of Naples itself. The reference to the ritual of the liquefaction of San Gennaro’s blood is explicit: that suspended moment in which the city awaits, between faith and superstition, the transformation of a liquid as a sign of an equilibrium achieved or, on the contrary, threatened. Here, the water collected from the walls of the aqueduct, symbolising not a religious miracle but a natural process, is presented as a balancing act between past and present, matter and spirit, moisture and memory.
Vibeke Mascini-Chaveli Sifre, “Spirit Level”, UNDETRNEATH THE ARCHES, installation view, Acquedotto augusteo del Serino, Napoli, 2024, photo credit Maurizio Esposito
Mascini and Sifre’s intervention is not limited to a purely formal representation: their works act on the perception of space, staging a dialogue with the underground architecture and history of the site. The sculptures made of glass and malleable materials, illuminated by torches that reveal their fluorescence, not only interact with the ancient stone, but also reveal a sensorial and symbolic dimension, suggesting that the archaeological site is not an inert body, but a living, pulsating organism in constant transformation. The levels thus become active devices that collect and rework the space, suggesting a continuous process of metamorphosis. The Rione Sanità, with its history of salubriousness and sacredness, of catacombs and churches, perfectly embodies the historical and cultural stratification that the artists intend to explore. Water, in this context, becomes a vehicle of memory and transformation. Not holy water, but the damp water that penetrates the ancient stones and that, through the artists’ manipulation, invites us to reflect on the fragility and instability of human and environmental equilibrium.
Vibeke Mascini-Chaveli Sifre, “Spirit Level”, UNDETRNEATH THE ARCHES, installation view, Acquedotto augusteo del Serino, Napoli, 2024, photo credit Maurizio Esposito
Underneath the Arches, a project born in 2018 under the direction of Chiara Pirozzi and Alessandra Troncone, continues to distinguish itself for its capability of activating a profound dialogue between contemporary art and archaeology. The programme, which has already hosted internationally renowned artists such as Hera Büyüktaşçıyan and Adrian Melis, confirms itself as a privileged space for international artistic research, with the aim of enhancing the historical heritage of Naples through the lens of contemporary art. With Spirit Level, this dialogue is enriched with new meanings, where the concept of balance is never static, but a continuous tension towards transformation, like water that accumulates, transforms and dissolves in an eternal cycle. The sculptures and installations on the site dialogue with its millennial history, emphasising a profound link between nature, technology and spirituality, a thread that runs through the entire Underneath the Arches project. Thus, the Roman aqueduct becomes not only an archaeological find, but a place that, thanks to art, continues to renew itself and suggest new balances between past and present, between man and his environment.
Info:
Underneath the Arches. Vibeke Mascini e Chaveli Sifre: SPIRIT LEVEL
curated by Chiara Pirozzi and Alessandra Troncone
19/10 – 01/12 2024
Acquedotto Augusteo del Serino
Via Arena Sanità 5, Napoli
www.verginisanita.it
Art Curator and Art Advisor, graduated in Visual Arts and Cultural Mediation, with Master in Curatorial Practices, born in 1995, lives in Naples. He collaborates with Galleries and Independent Spaces, his research is mainly focused on Emerging Painting, with a careful and inclined gaze also on other forms of aesthetic language.
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