Massimo Bartolini
Listening is also an art form
«Art must be sacred and tending towards the impersonality that unites us all. in a single word, it is poetry»
In such a chaotic, noisy period like ours, the Italian Pavilion signed by the artist Massimo Bartolini seems to act as a counterpart. A sort of counterbalance to so much vulgarity and clamor. The project, curated by Luca Cerizza and promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, is a space without walls, inhabited only by notes and a few installations for meditation and introspection, whose cardinal points are nature and spirituality. The title of the project, ‘Due qui/To hear,’ plays with words and the similarity between the English ‘Two here’ and its pronunciation, ‘To hear,’ meaning ‘to listen.’ It’s like saying: ‘Even knowing how to listen is a form of art.’ Born in Cecina in 1962, in the province of Livorno, where Bartolini currently resides, he hasn’t worked alone. He enlisted the help of the English musician Gavin Bryars, who created a composition based on a poem by the Argentine poet Roberto Juarroz, destined for the garden, while the large environmental installation at the Tese has a sound component co-authored by the two young composers Caterina Barbieri and Kali Malone. It’s the same Tuscan artist who tells us about his work.
Where does the idea come from to create a work that is totally inspired by listening in an age where everyone speaks – through TVs, social media – and few really pay attention?
Massimo Bartolini :
«In the question lies the answer: it’s a work that, without forsaking a visual aspect (the instrument) and a tactile one (the path to take), prioritizes this parallel and invisible world in which we are immersed and often unaware of. The world of sound. We must educate ourselves to engage with it. Pierre Schaeffer, Raymond Murray Schafer, Paulina Oliveiros, John Cage have all pointed out the existence of this other world»
The project at the Tese delle Vergini is called “Due qui / To Hear,” which means that the device of the work is based on a plural logic. But who is the other in this case?
Massimo Bartolini :
«The other is us humans, the plants, the stones…»
For “Due qui / To Hear,” you chose to involve other artists from the world of music and from different generations. Why?
Massimo Bartolini :
«Art is a collective thing. Always. Whether declared or not. The author, on the other hand, is an ancient concept kept alive only by commercial speculation. By inviting such important musicians, I become both a fan and a student. It’s a sort of admiration but also an education. I’ve learned a great deal from Gavin Bryars, whose humanity equals his greatness as a musician. Kali Malone and Caterina Barbieri are astounding in their ability to capture exactly the intensity of a situation. It’s already a great achievement for me to have all these masters together»
How free is an artist today? What does being free mean to you?
Massimo Bartolini :
«Art dies from freedom, art lives from relationships, and thus, exaggerating just a little, from coercions. Today, freedom is the new form of control, as Byung Chul Han says. Free to express opinions, only to be profiled and subsequently manipulated and redirected. Freedom alone is the most terrible of slaveries; the French had coupled it with fraternity and equality, which moderated the delirious aspect inherent in every freedom. Perhaps being free means renouncing as many things as possible»
How difficult was it in terms of effort, patience, and personal growth, to be the only artist in the Italian Pavilion?
Massimo Bartolini :
«So much effort, immense patience, and yes, even a certain personal growth. I’m not afraid of spaces, and I enjoy solitude, so I found myself comfortable alone in a large space. It goes without saying that being the only artist representing a nation, which would have many other equally deserving artists to fulfil this role, is a significant responsibility»
Should art be civil or uncivilized?
Massimo Bartolini :
«Art must be sacred, directed towards the impersonal that unites each of us. In one word, poetry»
Do you remember the first work of art you made?
Massimo Bartolini :
«Frankly not, but I remember when I became an artist»
Do you have a great place to get inspiration to create your own artwork?
Massimo Bartolini :
«The ideal place is a serene but active self, calm but attentive, this is a place that I have inside me but rarely have access to it. However, an external place that influenced me and literally inspired me is Ficarra in Sicily»
What if I hadn’t become an artist??
Massimo Bartolini :
«I would have been a surveyor or a waiter»
Interview: Germano D’Acquisto
Photos: Ludovica Arcero
