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Milan’s Stazione Centrale is home to JR‘s latest installation—a daring piece that sees the artist challenge himself to try something new. In La Nascita (The Birth), JR trades his signature medium of paper and glue for scaffoldings in the name of sculptural anamorphosis. In other words, by trasferring a distorted image onto a layered, three-dimensional setting, the artist creates different optical illusions that reflect on the origins of the station.
For this installation, JR transformed the entrance to Milan's Central Station and the Piazza Duca d’Aosta into a rocky landscape. The piece retells the origins of the train station. After the opening of the Simplon Tunnel in 1906, which connects Italy with Switzerland and France through the Alps, King Victor Emmanuel III laid a symbolic foundation of stone for the new central train station. As such, the installation weaves the cavernous formations that preceded the tunnel into the building’s unique mix of classical Roman, eclectic, rationalist, art nouveau, and art deco architecture.
La Nascita is made up of a series of printed images of rock formations plastered onto aluminum slats. “The monumental trompe-l'œil blurs the boundaries of time and place, fashioning a surreal architectural fantasy that draws a link between the grandeur of the station today and its history,” the artist's statement explains. The piece also approaches the human need to explore and venture into the unknown. Much like those who built it, visitors are called upon by the depths of the cave.
In addition to the main scaffolding on the station's façade, JR affixed smaller structures on the ground, creating a piece that commuters can further explore. Committed to the low impact of his pieces, all the materials used in this monumental installation will be repurposed in future projects or melted down and recycled.
“In spaces that have social issues, my work is about bringing people together,” JR tells The Art Newspaper. “In a place like this, a huge range of people come to catch the train. When they find themselves in front of an exhibition, they will suddenly have a different kind of interaction.”
La Nascita, which unveiled ahead of Milan Design Week, will be on view through May 1, 2024.
La Nascita, JR's latest installation, celebrates the origins of Milan’s Stazione Centrale.
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For this piece, JR traded his signature medium of paper and glue for scaffoldings to create an anamorphic installation.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
La Nascita, which was unveiled ahead of Milan Design Week, will be on view through May 1, 2024.
@belowsealeveldesi JR’s La nascita in Milan. Beautiful installation #jr #installation #milan #milano #milaan #italia #italie #italy #art #kunst #centralstation #centraalstation #arte #architecture ♬ original sound – kardashianshulu
JR: Website | Instagram
h/t: [HypeBeast]
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