ART by Raffaele Salvoldi

The Imaginary City, by Raffaele Salvoldi, WoodArc project

Tens of thousands of wooden bricks, dry-stacked one on top of the other by the hands of the artist who, without design, creates a set of imaginary buildings, the main one of which will be between 8-9 m high. Finally, it will be the public itself, at the end of the exhibition, who will demolish each structure. The final event represents the culmination of emotion, as the audience is invited, at the end of a countdown, to hit the structure with wooden bricks until it collapses in on itself; within this context, it is interesting to observe the emotional conflict of the audience, eager to actively participate in the collapse, yet sensitive to the destruction of the work. The entire interior structure would be created with Kapla maritime pine bricks, made from wood from regulated forests, which are reused at the end of each exhibition

Raffaele Salvoldi, started out as a director of photography. After ten years in the film and advertising industry, which led him to collaborate on several occasions with brands such as Gessi, Lavazza, Discovery Channel, Giorgio Armani, during the lockdown period he began making structures composed of 1,000 Kapla bricks in the living room of his home. In 2022 he was hosted by the Comitato d'Amore per Casa Bossi inside the frescoed rooms of the Antonellian residence of the same name, in Novara; the presence of the artist and the works became in a very short time an attraction for the public, donating a concrete contribution to the enhancement of the building. Thus, the mission of this art project was born: to aggregate and excite people within cultural places, through exhibitions that do not offer the public the display of finished works, but the dynamic artistic process: each vernissage sees the first meter of the installation work presented to the public and, during the finissage, hosts the demolition of the structure, by the public.

In 2023, the collaboration with the Salvatori brand began, combining the artist's desire to be able to create permanent works and/or in outdoor exhibition spaces, exploiting natural stone, and Gabriele Salvatori's desire to be able to give new life to stone processing waste. The same year, during Milan Design Week, the first extemporaneous marble installation is presented to the public. Thus began a continuous experimentation that explores the dialogue between works and spaces, creating imaginary architectures capable of offering the public increasingly immersive experiences and involving them, when possible, in their demolition.

“It is an unexpected journey, which leads me to discover more about myself and the world at each stage, and I feel grateful for all the places I have the chance to experience and all the people I am lucky enough to have beside me during this journey.”

woodarc2022.com