The second edition of the Biennale of Discard starts in Maremma

Ahead in Tuscany for the second edition of the Biennale dello Scarto, an initiative conceived and curated by artist Rodolfo Lacquaniti: an event that brings, to the TuscanMaremma, large-scale works made with recycled materials to dialogue with the natural and urban landscape of Grosseto and Castiglione della Pescaia. The theme of this new edition is “Circular Energy, Waste and Discarded.”

From May and throughout the summer, the streets and squares of the two Tuscan towns will see the presence of contemporary art with new installations to which are then added in-depth events on environmental and sustainability issues. Later then the initiative will also take shape within Legambiente’s national event, “Festambiente,” at the Monastery of Siloe in the municipality of Cinigiano (in 2023) to conclude a year later in Florence.

The Biennale dello Scarto was born in 2018, in Venice, from a provocation by Rodolfo Lacquaniti launched against art that pollutes and the contradictory behavior of many artists who espouse the ecological idea but then produce highly impactful works. Lacquaniti’s art, which can already be appreciated in his Journey Back Garden, a popular art park in Castiglione della Pescaia, according to a set schedule or by reservation, is now enriched with new works in this Recycling Biennial, “a journey to discover cultures and civilizations that lived in this territory such as the Etruscans, Romans, Spanish, French, and Arabs,” Lacquaniti explains. “Through recycled material, I created giant installations depicting wayfarers, mutants, visionaries, dreamers and mystics capable of dialoguing with the natural and urban landscape we experience every day. The idea is to admire them but at the same time make us reflect. The soul of humanity is disjointed, fearful and confused; it does not have the energy to remedy so many years of disconnection between man and the world that hosts it. We cannot stand still; culture must show a possible way, must help us develop an ecological consciousness. Each work will, therefore, be a tribute to this wonderful land and an opportunity to address environmental issues. We will unite in a single narrative all the wonder of Maremma with its millenary history, archaeological sites, characters, museums, mining parks and nature. An unspoiled beauty that must see us all committed to its defense.” The project aims to be a green revolution of happiness, protection of biodiversity and beauty.

In Castiglione della Pescaia, the works of the Biennale dello Scarto will be in five locations: Casa Rossa Ximenes (from May 21), with I due viandanti, a work dedicated to Leopold II of Lorraine and engineer Leonardo Ximenes (materials used: scraps of old plow wheels, iron irrigation pipes, pig troughs, fan used in wind tunnels of the cotto factory, agricultural tools, iron tubing); Solti Square (from June 24), with I tre illuminati, a work dedicated to Italo Calvino, Georg Solti and Carlo Fruttero and their travels to Castiglione della Pescaia (materials used: scraps of two discarded iron rings from tractor wheel rims, galvanized iron and regular iron tubulars, perforated plates terracotta factory machinery, galvanized iron irrigation pipes, three steel portholes from a boat, foundry glass, washers and bolts, iron plates), Eremo di Malavalle (from July 22) with Il Viandante San Guglielmo (materials used: iron door scraps, iron window, various types of agricultural artifacts, plastic skeleton head, part of a crossbow, carpenter’s nails, shoemaker’s anvil), the Vetulonia Excavations (from Aug. 6), with The Flower of Life, a work inspired by a round shield, depicting the flower of life, a fragment of a statue of a warrior dated around the 2nd century BCE.C. (materials used: scrap of iron ring spikes, scrap of tractor wheel rims, iron plates, iron tubulars) and Palazzo Centurioni (from Sept. 17), with Progetto Donne. From the Renaissance to the Present Day, an installation that will make use of video art, sculpture, light and music. The face of the exhibition is dedicated to a Bronzino painting depicting the enlightened Eleonora di Toledo, wife of Cosimo dei Medici, together with a mutant from the installation The Garbage Revolution (materials used: scraps of mutant from The Garbage Revolution made from foundry glass outlet, black windbreak mesh, iron base, tin accessories).

Five locations also in Grosseto, where the works will be installed starting July 1. In Piazza Duomo there will be the Christ (materials used: discards of stoned and perforated plates from terracotta-making machines, perforated iron boxes, agricultural implements, steel ring, iron rings, discarded tractor wheel rims, steel iron wrapped in barbed skein, rods and scraps from railings, stamped iron rounds, various agricultural implements), while in Piazza Socci there will be The Journey of Sancho Pancia: with the help of one of the most beautiful novels in international literature Don Quixote de la Mancha by Cervantes, the play, composed of four characters-two human and two animal-wants to redeem Sancho Pancia by placing him as the main actor along with Don Quixote. Next to them are two stylized silhouettes of a horse and a donkey (materials used: scraps of two glass discs, resin from the cover of a glass barrel, resin, fiberglass ring, galvanized iron tubing, pipe from old farm machine, round tool with side rod for cooking iron cecina, knurled irons of various sizes, toothed rings from various cars, galvanized iron pipe from irrigation, motor and fan of machine for ventilating terracotta, agricultural accessories, steel ring and round steel plates).

In Corso Carducci space for The Two Altants, which, arranged one in front of the other, indicate the entrance to the Biennial of Waste. The theme addressed is the relationship between human beings and other species, but also the theme of openness, of the awakening that is essential for dealing with issues that seem bigger than ourselves. The large open arms of the two works are a reminder of cosmic energy, an embrace of life and the divine within each of us (materials used: galvanized iron irrigation pipe scraps, agricultural tools and scissors, metal shavings, iron plates, iron rings, cast iron figurative elements, pc screen, agricultural hoes, wrought iron railing elements, carpenter’s nails). In Baccarini Square there will be The Horse and the Rider: the artist links, through the circle of life, all living species and places them in a larger project. The pride of the horse looking at the horizon and the plasticity of the rider soaring through space are linked to each other by the magic circle of life. There is another dimension where there are no wars to fight, no territories to conquer but the awareness of being part of a larger project that goes beyond planetary boundaries (materials used: scrap steel ring, iron rings, scrap tractor wheel rims. Steel round plate, steel plates, iron tubulars, steel ring, fiberglass and wood mold of a horse head, casting of material in various alloys, galvanized iron washers. Bolts of various sizes, iron plate, galvanized irrigation pipe and bolt accessories).

Two works, finally, at the Sienese Cassero: at the Mura Medicee there will be The Three Ants, a work inspired by the extraordinary ability of ants to solve problems encountered while searching for food (materials used: scraps of iron tubing of various sizes and thicknesses, iron rods of various thicknesses, wire mesh, plastic irrigation pipes and many more), while in the Cassero itself there will be Girl on an unidentified object, which is inspired by Pablo Picasso ’s Girl on the Ball (materials used: scraps of agricultural and post-industrial materials, a World War II diesel tank dropped from a bomb-shaped plane).

The second edition of the Biennale of Discard starts in Maremma

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