Transparent Architectures

Description

More than an exhibition, Transparent Architectures is a visual and sensory experience. Sixteen extraordinary installations allow visitors to soar through the central hall of Villa Manin, to multiply their own image and watch it vanish among the trees of the park, to approach a rainbow almost close enough to touch it, to explore a sound forest equipped with special headphones, to swim underwater without oxygen tanks, and to see the villa from entirely new perspectives.
At its core lies the desire to interpret the theme of the boundary, central to Nova Gorica and Gorizia European Capital of Culture 2025, through the creations of some of the most important contemporary artists—from Jeppe Hein to Dan Graham, from Pae White to Jesús Rafael Soto, from Anna Pontel to Giulio Paolini. In their works, the boundary is not a barrier but a limit to be overcome, to be crossed with the gaze or with the body. Their creations alter the perception of the spaces in which they are presented, making them uncertain and open to question; they contradict the distinction between inside and outside, closed and open, transparent and opaque.
Such extraordinary effects are all the more astonishing because they are achieved with simple materials such as sewing thread, mirrors, paper confetti, electric cables, and even wooden skewers.
Two warnings for visitors:

1. Even those who have always looked at contemporary art with suspicion will have to reconsider.
2. The exhibition may dangerously stimulate children’s creativity.

Organized by:

Ente Regionale per il Patrimonio Culturale Friuli Venezia Giulia