Arcangelo Sassolino
D.P.D.U.F.A. (Pneumatic Dilation of an Active Force), 2016

Steel, glass, polycarbonate, nitrogen.
Structure and pneumatic system: H 73 x 210 x 65 cm, 300 kg
Cylinder: H 50 x 185 x 40 cm, 80 kg
Replacement polycarbonate on a pallet: H 40 x 90 x 70 cm, 150 kg
Courtesy of Galleria dello Scudo.

The performative installation D.P.D.U.F.A. (Dilatazione Pneumatica Di Una Forza Attiva), now exhibited in its recent version. Placed inside a steel showcase and protected by polycarbonate sheets, a glass bottle is connected to a canister of nitrogen. The gas enters slowly. The pressure increases slowly until, at an unexpected moment, the glass explodes violently and disintegrates.

“I believe that by applying to material what physics defines as natural phenomena… a new possibility can be given to sculpture. And if you want to get out something new from the solidity of certain materials, you must do so through machines with ‘muscles’. You cannot make a bottle explode by breathing into it through a straw used for sipping orange juice. These devices have to be constructed. They must be functional and secure”. These are some of the artist’s thoughts, that sum up the spirit from which gave these works their starting point. “The glass contains in itself a subtle threat. I used a bottle in all its basic banality in order to make it become the image of the sudden dangers of life. And not to speak of the mystery of the transparent solidity of this material”.

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