LIGHT, SPACE, COLOUR.
THE MOTIVES BEHIND MY DECISIONS.
by Amedeo Sanzone
The encounter with a material may happen through wholly accidental and casual circumstances, but the decision to use
it, to adopt it as a means of expression, is anything but arbitrary and is determined by a precise intention, by clear
thematic and conceptual needs. In my case it is a matter of Lexan, a plastic material which is similar but not quite
identical to Perspex, which consists of transparent panes with excellent light transmission properties, as it transmits
between 84% and 87% depending on the thickness.
I work on this plastic base after having given it a special preparation, using car paints and unique colours as compared to
the R.A.L. colour chart, not only because I determine the degree of transparency or opacity depending on the requirements
of a given project, but also because I add a percentage from10% to 20% of a heterogeneous colour, thus obtaining a special
and unique colour. I work on the backside of the pane, or the rear part, and this makes the realization complex as no
corrections are possible; not even the smallest dripping or bleeding can be set right, and will result in thematerial destruction
of the work. The work takes form through a succession of more or less transparent coats of paint, to then terminate with
finishing details in other colours; the result is a brilliant and very reflecting surface with colours that change with the light,
and with variegated chromatic reflections. From the technical complexity of the rear layer one thus passes to the apparent
simplicity of the monochromatic frontal surface, which is congenial to the theme treated: light, space or colour.
These concepts naturally represent the basis of the work, and it is their dialectic relationship which gives the work its
form. At first glance the work may appear as a more or less large-scale application, realized with different materials as
steel, aluminium, chromed brass and Lexan, which is inserted in a surface that appears empty and monochromatic.
And regardless of which one of the different materials a work is made from, the application is always characterized by
its glossy, brilliant character and its ability to capture light and reflect it.
Light, one of the three fundamental elements of the work, is the conceptual expression of a clarifying, religious and
philosophic thought. The light is not the result of a sequence of chiaroscuro effects or colours, and it does not emerge
from a chromatic contrast; it is a light which benefits from and owes its existence to the luminous context of the
environment which invades the application, the surface, inebriating it with reflections and nuances. It is a light which
grazes, almost caresses the space of the work, passing straight through it, intangibly and ethereally, never static or
blocked but vibrant; it escapes the gaze but is nevertheless intimate and deep. The light is identified with the space of
the surface, and vice versa. The application which is characteristic of the work refers to a space, which somehow allows one to become conscious
of the void in which it is immersed. In this sense the application is of fundamental importance; if it did not exist we
would be facing nothingness, an absolute void instead of an empty space which naturally is not merely the denial of a
mass, but an expanse, a surface.
This space is not delimited; there is no clear and circumscribed border. It is not the result of an organization of points
or lines, and it is not geometric, Euclidean but on the contrary an indefinite space dominated precisely by the void. It
is a space of the soul; it is not vacant in the sense of emptiness or an absence of mass; is on the contrary a void full of
itself, or full of a dimension of emptiness which brims over with light and luminosity. It evokes a mystic dimension, a
spiritual dimension, not unlike the rarefied atmospheres characteristic of Gothic basilicas. It is a matter of an empty,
immaterial and incorporeal space which evokes a mnemonic transcendence of a metaphysic kind. It represents the
moment in which we stop to look upwards, around ourselves, within ourselves, exploring our conscience, the depths of
our soul; it is a moment of meditation, of introspection, of solitude, the void we sometimes plunge into even if we find
ourselves immersed in the chaos of everyday life. The space of the surface therefore becomes the space of our existence,
the place in which to find ourselves alone with ourselves, before our own thoughts. It is a space that dialogues, relating
also and not only with the space of the wall, but more in general with the environment which accommodates by. It is
in some aspects a relationship that is inevitable and inescapable, to the extent to which the reflecting surface of the
painting absorbs and reflects its surroundings and everything in it. From a subjective dimension of the space one
therefore passes to an objective one, precisely in a context of real life. Light and space merge in the colour, which is the
third element; an element of synthesis between two complementary spheres, namely colour, understood as an invitation
to a possible user, expression of a cultural heritage, an aesthetizing element by virtue of being intentionally
monochromatic.
An extreme attention to details; nothing must disturb or distract from a balance of harmony and compositive rigour.
Nothing must disturb the concentration, divert or prevent the onlooker from immersing him or herself in the work, to
abandon him or herself to a vision which must be contemplative by nature, where everything must comply with a precise
canon of perfection. Everything must contribute to conserve a pure, absorbed atmosphere; this is an indispensable
condition for the indissoluble unity of the work to emerge clearly and forcefully.
Harmony, rigour, great attention to the structure of the composition: these are fundamental concepts which form the
foundations ofmy work, of which aimis to convey a profound and authentic yearning for a concept of universal spirituality.