Visitors to the show were required to sign a release form. They might become quite disturbed (read: freak out!) when walking through the pitch-black tunnel titled “Dirty Corner”.
Milan is hosting the work of internationally-renowned artist, Anish Kapoor, at the city’s newly opened “La Fabbrica del Vapore” – The Steam Factory – and also at the Rotonda di Via Besana. (Click on “La Mostra”.)
From Wikipedia:
“Anish Kapoor is a British sculptor of Indian birth. Born in Mumbai (Bombay), Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design. He initially began exhibiting as part of New British Sculpture art scene. He went on to exhibit internationally at venues such as the Tate Gallery and Hayward Gallery in London, Kunsthalle Basel, Haus der Kunst Munich, Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, Reina Sofia in Madrid, MAK Vienna, and the ICA Boston. He represented Britain in the XLIV Venice Biennale in 1990, when he was awarded the Premio Duemila Prize. In 1991 he received the Turner Prize. Notable public sculptures include Cloud Gate, Millennium Park, Chicago, and Sky Mirror at the Rockefeller Center, New York.”
From the Exhibition Website:
The exhibition at the Steam Factory – La Fabbrica del Vapore – consists of the monumental site-specific installation titled “Dirty Corner”, specially made for the exhibition in Milan. Installation – achieved with the support of the Galleria Continua, the Lisson Gallery and Galleria Massimo Minini – consists of a large volume of steeldown about 60 meters long and 8 meters high, crossing the space of the “Cathedral” and within which visitors can enter. The work will be covered gradually by a mountain of earth about 160 cubic meters, carried by a system of conveyor belts.
For a more personal experience, site visitors wait at the entrance until the previous entrants are out of sight and ear-shot.
The piece, titled “Dirty Corner” is an engineering and metalwork marvel. The voluptuous curves are quite remarkable considering they’re made from 5/16″+ Corten steel sheets.
When it was my turn to enter, I looked up at this beautiful form against the roof of La Fabbrica.
Upon entering, I turned around for the view in the opposite direction.
Stepping into the black tunnel, I had no fear. It was a curious time for self-observation and sensing my body in space. (I thought of going through in bare feet.) Could I get turned around inside the tunnel? No. The pathway is flat, and where it begins to curve upward my feet clearly got the signal, so I easily kept walking in a straight line toward the end.
The tail end of the tunnel is finished with a hemisphere. The exit is off to one side, preventing the eyes from picking up light along the passage.
The structural and textural details make the exterior quite rich.
I wonder how many people have noticed that a strand of grass has sprouted in the dirt that has tumbled over the sculpture? The dirt was not falling during my visit, but I imagine it must add an element of sound when inside the tunnel.
FABBRICA DEL VAPORE – via Procaccini, 4 – Milano Italia
The show is open until January 8, 2012.