Forgotten Sculptors

Forgotten Sculptors is a project by Emilio Fantin, Luigi Negro, Giancarlo Norese and Cesare Pietroiusti, produced by SculptureCenter (New York) in the context of PERFORMA07, the second biennial of new visual art performance.

Part of the project consists in a series of short email stories. A performance by the four artists with the participation of Joan Jonas and Steve Piccolo was held at Sculpture Center on November 3rd, 2007. As a final step to the project, the artists invited everyone to join them in a collective performance on Sunday, November 18th.


The project description

Part one. The stories
Four short stories about some "forgotten sculptors" were sent via email to a selected list of artists, curators, museums and friends:

1. The Nanocafausu (October 11th, 2007)
2. Dorothea (October 18th, 2007)
3. Modigliani’s Heads (October 25th, 2007)
4. A Blind Sculptor (November 1st, 2007)

Part two. The State of Things
Between October 30th and November 3rd, before the performance was open to the public, all the discarded objects and waste found at SculptureCenter (including the office and the hidden parts of the basement) were inventoried, collected and shaped to fit a sort of sculpture put on the floor of the SculptureCenter. A complete list of all the found objects was compiled.

Part three. The performance
On November 3rd from 3pm to 6pm, all the objects were moved to their original place, making the "sculpture" disappear.
At the same time, artist Joan Jonas was making big drawings that were eventually crumpled, and a video conference with Steve Piccolo from the Fondazione Meo in Rome (the former studio of Salvatore Meo, a "forgotten sculptor") was established.

Part four. Blindfolded
On November 18th, everyone, all over the world, was invited to take part in the action "Bendati/Blindfolded" from wherever they happen to be, at the same time. Participants were asked to remain blindfolded for one hour. After the performance impressions were posted on the blog forgottensculptors.blogspot.com, a space where analogies, coincidences, and individual thoughts may appear.


The project was realized with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute, New York, and the Fondazione Meo, Rome. Thanks to the Nanotechnology Research Group, Lecce

Founded by artists in 1928, SculptureCenter is a not-for-profit arts institution dedicated to experimental and innovative developments in contemporary sculpture. SculptureCenter commissions new work and presents exhibits by emerging and established, national and international artists

PERFORMA07 (November 1-20, 2007) is the second biennial of new visual art performance presented by PERFORMA, a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century

Bendati/Blindfolded

SculptureCenter Presents

Bendati/Blindfolded, an open, collective performance

Sunday, November 18, 2007

10am New York; 11am Buenos Aires; 12pm São Paulo; 3pm London; 4pm Cairo, Rome; 5pm Addis Ababa; 9pm Phnom Penh; 10pm Shanghai

Everyone, all over the world, is invited to take part in the action Bendati/Blindfolded from wherever they happen to be, at the same time.

Participants are asked to remain blindfolded for one hour.

This is to identify with the state of mind of Luigi, who, for over a year now, has had trouble with his eyesight. He must remain in complete darkness, or keep his eyes closed for long periods of time.

Those contributing are free to stay still or move, do something or not, work or rest. Participants are also invited to identify with Luigi's condition and simply experience the loss of sight for an hour.

After the performance impressions can be posted on this blog, a space where analogies, coincidences, and individual thoughts may appear; where images and voices seen or heard during the action can find an echo.

Emilio Fantin, Luigi Negro, Giancarlo Norese, Cesare Pietroiusti


Forgotten Sculptors
Bendati/Blindfolded is the last action in a series of events that make up the project Forgotten Sculptors. Forgotten Sculptors is a project by Fantin, Negro, Norese, and Pietroiusti, produced by SculptureCenter for Performa 07. Part of the project consists in a series of short email stories. A performance by the four artists with the participation of Joan Jonas and Steve Piccolo will be held at SculptureCenter on November 3rd at 3pm as a part of Forgotten, Continuous, Influx: 30 Hours at SculptureCenter.
For more information about Forgotten Sculptors, please email forgottensculptors (at) sculpture-center.org.

With the support of the Italian Cultural Institute, New York
In collaboration with Fondazione Salvatore Meo, Roma

For additional information please contact SculptureCenter: (1) 718.361.1750 or info (at) sculpture-center.org
Media contact: Katie Farrell, kfarrell (at) sculpture-center.org