The solo show of American artist Jeff Schmuki (AIR 2018) “Varietà comune”was presented during Rome Art Week 2018, the annual event dedicated to contemporary art in Rome. “Inspired by the odd and unusual collision between the Rome’s ancient history the contemporary city, found porcelain figurines purchased at the flea market are recontextualized and recycled. The superficial nature of these cheap and often damaged decorative figures is remade by obscuring the original surface and inserting into a base or setting reminiscent of decayed gardens and rubble. Placed onto remote-controlled Arduino platforms and driven in the street gives the figurines life beyond their mass-produced, static origins and reinserts them into the life of the city. These public outings provide new possibilities for the ceramic medium and conversations on cultural fashions that are historical and familiar yet alien, underscoring topics of environmental devastation, resource depletion, wars and famine that are becoming more frequent, and all too common.”
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