Work: Crushed metals

Description

“A work of art, be it poetry, sculpture, architecture, begins and ends in man: it is not a negation of life because of being an inanimate object, but has a life of its own, a capacity to narrate history, human actions, which reveals it as a living being”, Luciano Dionisi, “Scultura scoperta”.

“Metalli acciaccati” (Crushed metals) is one of a series of works created by Dionisi in 1996. Two black steel panels hang side by side, with a total width of about 170 cm. On each is mounted a mass of bronze which has been deformed and crushed like crumpled paper. They are both elongated horizontally and approach one another quite closely in the space between the panels, which is about 20 cm wide.
The crumpled bronze appears thicker and more resistant in some parts, thinner and flimsier in others, with visible tears and perforations. There are strong tactile and chromatic contrasts between the smooth, black, polished surface of the panels and the golden brown of the craggy bronze.

In his essay “Scultura scoperta” (Sculpture discovered), Dionisi points out that the first way that people relate to the outside world is through their senses. He loves to feel the physicality of things and materials with which he establishes a direct contact, a special relationship that is based on the sense of touch, which is essential to fully appreciate this work.
Dionisi’s art involves experimentation with techniques and materials but, above all, the delight of doing, of manipulating, as if the sculptor is striving to make the hidden soul of things tangible through the material.