Arte nel Paesaggio
curated by Giada Rodani and Jade Vlietstra
Arte nel Paesaggio aims to promote contemporary art within the Tuscan landscape, interpreting "landscape" as a monument to human endeavor, a testament to the proud work of generations in this land of extraordinary beauty. "Art" and "Landscape" in symbiosis create emotion, a shared experience that transcends individual boundaries. The project centers on the relationship between humanity and its environment.
The biennial exhibition unfolds within two remarkable domes: one dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo, echoing the memory of Semifonte's lost city (an eighth-scale replica of Florence's Santa Maria del Fiore dome), and the other Osservatorio Polifunzionale del Chianti (OPC), serving as an astronomical observatory, both nestled in the breathtaking landscape of Barberino Tavarnelle.
The Chapel of San Michele Arcangelo in Semifonte, a symbolic landmark of the region, was commissioned from Santi di Tito by Giovan Battista Capponi and built in the late 16th century as a memorial to the city of Semifonte. Semifonte was a pro-imperial castle during a period of conflict between city-states and the emperor. Its strategic position along major trade routes - the Via Francigena and Via Volterrana - sparked a prolonged conflict with Florence. In 1202, the castle surrendered to Florence's army, Semifonte was razed, and the Florentine Republic issued a decree permanently banning construction on the site. For centuries after Semifonte fall, only one exception was made to this absolute prohibition against rebuilding: the Chapel of San Michele Arcangelo.
The Osservatorio Polifunzionale del Chianti (OPC) is a scientific facility dedicated to research, education, and public outreach, promoting the Third Culture: a harmonious integration of scientific and humanistic knowledge. With its four observatories (Astronomical, Geo-Seismic, Meteorological, and Environmental), the OPC stands as a rare example of successful synergy between research professionals (who gather here from across the country and the world) and
enthusiasts of all ages, nationalities, and backgrounds. The OPC’s mission is to make science an engaging experience for everyone, serving as both a
research and educational laboratory and a hub for cultural exchange and social connection.
A landscape shaped by artistic intervention sharpens our ability to observe, renews our vision of the world, enhances the natural environment, and reconnects us with the scientific thinking of Leonardo da Vinci (scientist and artist, who humbly described himself as "omo sanza lettere"). His approach, rooted in direct experience, keen observation of life's metabolic processes, and the preservation of their essential patterns, mirrors the philosophy behind this initiative.
Arte nel Paesaggio aims to promote contemporary art within the Tuscan landscape, interpreting "landscape" as a monument to human endeavor, a testament to the proud work of generations in this land of extraordinary beauty. "Art" and "Landscape" in symbiosis create emotion, a shared experience that transcends individual boundaries. The project centers on the relationship between humanity and its environment.
The biennial exhibition unfolds within two remarkable domes: one dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo, echoing the memory of Semifonte's lost city (an eighth-scale replica of Florence's Santa Maria del Fiore dome), and the other Osservatorio Polifunzionale del Chianti (OPC), serving as an astronomical observatory, both nestled in the breathtaking landscape of Barberino Tavarnelle.
The Chapel of San Michele Arcangelo in Semifonte, a symbolic landmark of the region, was commissioned from Santi di Tito by Giovan Battista Capponi and built in the late 16th century as a memorial to the city of Semifonte. Semifonte was a pro-imperial castle during a period of conflict between city-states and the emperor. Its strategic position along major trade routes - the Via Francigena and Via Volterrana - sparked a prolonged conflict with Florence. In 1202, the castle surrendered to Florence's army, Semifonte was razed, and the Florentine Republic issued a decree permanently banning construction on the site. For centuries after Semifonte fall, only one exception was made to this absolute prohibition against rebuilding: the Chapel of San Michele Arcangelo.
The Osservatorio Polifunzionale del Chianti (OPC) is a scientific facility dedicated to research, education, and public outreach, promoting the Third Culture: a harmonious integration of scientific and humanistic knowledge. With its four observatories (Astronomical, Geo-Seismic, Meteorological, and Environmental), the OPC stands as a rare example of successful synergy between research professionals (who gather here from across the country and the world) and
enthusiasts of all ages, nationalities, and backgrounds. The OPC’s mission is to make science an engaging experience for everyone, serving as both a
research and educational laboratory and a hub for cultural exchange and social connection.
A landscape shaped by artistic intervention sharpens our ability to observe, renews our vision of the world, enhances the natural environment, and reconnects us with the scientific thinking of Leonardo da Vinci (scientist and artist, who humbly described himself as "omo sanza lettere"). His approach, rooted in direct experience, keen observation of life's metabolic processes, and the preservation of their essential patterns, mirrors the philosophy behind this initiative.
Arte nel Paesaggio, Time Gravity 2025, Sophie Ko - Luca Pozzi
explores the concept of TIME, which embodies the rhythm of the universe and the cycle of nature, in perpetual and endless transformation, yet also a fragment of time endowed with qualitative and relative value. This leads to a reflection on morphology, not bound to an idea of form as something
fixed, complete, and crystallized in time, but - as with the landscape - always in a state of becoming. https://vimeo.com/1100852236?share=copy#t=0
fixed, complete, and crystallized in time, but - as with the landscape - always in a state of becoming. https://vimeo.com/1100852236?share=copy#t=0
Arte nel Paesaggio, Impronte d'acqua 2023- Evelien La Sud
A conscious breath shapes the future, this profound harmony between humanity and the cosmos, bound and ordered by their fundamental unity. To revisit the past as orientation reveals unforeseen pathways to becoming, openings to futures that resist prediction or predetermination.
The interplay of tangible and intangible forces weaves relationships through inherently mysterious processes. This coexistence of multivalent histories, where no single narrative dominates another, creates the very fabric that imbues Tuscany with its sense of eternity. https://vimeo.com/874785585
The interplay of tangible and intangible forces weaves relationships through inherently mysterious processes. This coexistence of multivalent histories, where no single narrative dominates another, creates the very fabric that imbues Tuscany with its sense of eternity. https://vimeo.com/874785585
Arte nel Paesaggio, Waterbones (nightfall) - Loris Cecchini 2023
An atomic structure in the making, a skeleton of matter, Loris Cecchini’s modular sculptures Waterbones. Taking the scientific observation of nature, studying the morphology of certain phenomena and the supporting mechanism, Cecchini examines the depths of the physical world, lighting on pure and essential creations (as found in some mathematical formulae), finally identifying in the atom, in energy, in the links and perennial motion, the extreme synthesis of reality.
https://vimeo.com/831129239