Who Looks at What?
Who Looks at What?

Workshop with S.O.B. Stefano Ogliari Badessi

The workshop consists of 2 sessions from remote (19, 26 October 2020) and 3 onsite meetings (29–31 october 2020).

  • The online meetings are open to all, upon registration.
  • The onsite meetings are open to 25 participantsof of 16-25 years of age who commit, by enrolling, to participate in every meeting.
  • Meetings are held in Italian.

the Workshop

The workshop will examine the relationship between the city of Venice and water, as a way to pay homage to both. Few cities in the world like Venice, perhaps no other, express such a close relationship with water. Venice is water and vice versa. They are inseparable and the connection involves inhabitants and visitors alike, who not only come into contact with the element of water, but often underestimate its importance and potential. As cities are considered living beings with a soul, undoubtedly the soul of Venice floats in its water.

The installation will consist of two “floating eyes” to be towed along the canals of Venice. The eye is one of the most powerful, complex, and mysterious symbols. Since the dawn of time, men recognized its power and ancient Mesopotamian civilizations regarded it as a divine symbol. Amedeo Modigliani often painted empty eyes with no pupils, and professed that “When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes.”

The workshop will involve participants in the development and creation of the installation. An introduction with images of floating sculptures and of eyes used as symbols in works of art will contextualize the planning of the work. Participants will then collaborate in the collection of found materials, in their transformation, and in the creation of the installation which will be floated along the canals of Venice.

the artist

Stefano Ogliari Badessi, aka S.O.B., is a nomadic installation artist who finds inspiration in nature and dreams. Beauty is the gateway to unexplored territories, the subconscious dreamlike part of us all, where we feel most free and alive and where self-discovery is possible. A large part of what makes his art unique is his ongoing study of materials. His installations are the sum of sensations experienced inside the created space: sensual, ethereal, incorporeal, universal and illuminating. Installations are imaged as a way to come into contact with some alternate spheres of reality, and then they are realized with unique sensory combinations and performative collaborations.

He has adapted his installations to be mobile and to respect the environment, and leave no trace nor damage once dismantled. A concern and respect for the environment inform his latest works, which are made of natural materials, such as pliable wood found in nature and then woven into shapes of animals which are either hunted and exploited or live in environments that are at risk.

He has exhibited his installations and sculptures across Europe, Asia, and North America, including international art fairs and biennials, such as the Biennale of Soncino, Cremona (2015); the Venice Biennale of Visual Arts (for the project Swatch Faces 2015); OpenArt Biennal, Sweden (2017); Scope Art Fair, Miami (2019).

the project

This workshop is part of the project Overcoming. Art Practices for the New Normal, organized by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, with the participation of Swatch Art Peace Hotel. The project asks young artists to challenge their own practice by creating workshops which should become virtuous activators of community processes, and catalysts of actions to re-appropriate spaces and to redefine social paradigms.
Find out more

  • Free / Registration required
  • Online