To collect the past in order to create the future: this slogan-like message reflects the identity and mission of a new artwork located in Biella, in the internal courtyard of Fondazione Pistoletto, i.e. Ti Amo (fountain). It is a wishing fountain created as a sculpture by Marco Cassani, an Italian artist living in Bali, who is participating in a two-month research residency within the Unidee Residency Programs at Cittadellarte; the experience is supported not only by Fondazione Pistoletto, but also by the Italian Institute of Cultural in Jakarta, the Italian Embassy in Jakarta and Honold Fine Art. The artwork is inspired by the Balinese ritual and the Italian tradition of expressing a personal wish by throwing a coin into a sacred spring or fountain. From 12 November, in fact, anyone will have the opportunity to interact with the installation by making their wishes; specifically, the artwork is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00 until 10 December 2022. With Ti Amo (fountain), Marco Cassani wants to draw attention to the power of art to connect people and, to give shape to this process, the artist will provide old Italian Lire coins, available from Cittadellarte’s Caffetteria and Store. “With the coins*,” Cassani began, “we don’t want to forget the past, but to transform it into something new. These individual wishes may possibly become joint plans or a collective wish”. According to the artist, in fact, the fountain will allow the public to express a secret wish, perhaps mentally freeing themselves from something anchored in their past; the artist also offers the possibility of writing it down on a piece of paper.
Ti Amo (fountain) #2, 2022, Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto
Courtesy of the artist and Honold Fine Art.
Ti Amo (fountain) #2, 2022, Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto
Courtesy of the artist and Honold Fine Art.
Marco Cassani.
The title of the artwork is a clear reference to the Italian language and to Italy, which the artist wanted to stress: “I have now been living far from Italy for 13 years,” Cassani said, “the title of the installation is therefore a reference to my country of origin and to Michelangelo Pistoletto’s artwork ‘Ti amo’, which I (re)discovered during my residency at Cittadellarte. From this point of view, the fountain has a profound relationship with love and belief: in fact, it creates an intimate but at the same time public space in which people meet to make a wish”. The shape of the artwork itself has a meaning: it is a frog, the Balinese symbol of creativity and transformation. To create the installation, the artist previously made a cast of an existing fountain he came across in a Balinese private home. The cast of the frog is made from melted coins found in sacred fountains around Ubud, Bali, where they were thrown into the water by locals and visitors, to make an offering to the gods and make a wish; the artist then mirror-polished the cast. The fountain also connects directly to the key element of Cassani’s residency: water. In a process of inspiration and knowledge, he is studying – through dedicated meetings – local businesses and services representing the different types of relationship between people and water, such as Lauretana and Cordar. Cassani is also interviewing people who deal with the subject of water from different perspectives with a view to knowing their opinion on this element in general and in our specific territorial context, i.e. the river Cervo. “During my days in Biella,” he said, “I also met small business traders and, through these meetings, I was able to better immerse myself in the social fabric of reference. I hope that they will be among the first users of the work in order to indirectly highlight the Cervo as well. My fountain is dedicated to it, and the water running through the fountain comes from its stream”.
Ti Amo (fountain) #2, 2022, Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto
Courtesy of the artist and Honold Fine Art.
Le Quote dell’Acqua.
Illustration by Cornelia Badelita for the exhibition New Rooms of the Terme Culturali. Art at the Centre 2019.
Ti Amo (fountain) #2, 2022, Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto
Courtesy of the artist and Honold Fine Art.
The installation and the artist’s entire research are characterised by a network of relationships: “My artwork,” explained Cassani, “is based on the idea of transformation and exchange“. A significant difference emerged from the weeks of meetings and discussions with figures in the sector: “It is interesting to notice how in Italy the vision of water is built on our temporary and current needs,” revealed the artist, “whereas my experience in Bali has taught me that Balinese people maintain their connection with the sources of water through daily offering rituals, care and a sense of common use of it based on traditional knowledge, which is somehow similar to the one the people of Biella once had. In both contexts, in Bali and in Biella, the vision of water is built on the experience of water, on its universal value and on the role of water as a basic natural element essential to human life. From my point of view, the concept of water has taken on further meanings, a meaning of life, a meaning of love, a meaning of value, which change accordingly to the environment and social context where my artwork is displayed. One of the aspects I’m most interested in in my artwork ‘Ti Amo (fountain)’ is its energy, its ability to make me conscious of where the water comes from, as well as its metaphor. At the same time, the sound of falling water makes me think about the universal value of what water is all about. In this sense, the water must come from the nearest spring to where the work is presented. Through its sound, the ‘Ti Amo’ fountain displays an equal balance between visual and mental experience”. Cassani concluded by highlighting the importance of Unidee Residency Programs, which “are allowing me to have continuous and significant exchange opportunities. I am grateful. The residency is playing a very important role in my artistic research, which will continue even after this experience”.
