Al-kymeia. Giardino dei quattro elementi, 2022
All classmates (visual identity)
UNIPA
Architettura degli spazi espositivi ed eventi – prof. Giuseppe Marsala
Al-kymeia. Giardino dei quattro elementi, 2022
Marzia Ricci + Mariachiara Butera (section “The way of the air”)
UNIPA
Architettura degli spazi espositivi ed eventi – prof. Giuseppe Marsala
THE GATEWAY TO THE AIR.
Visitors will begin their journey by walking through and through the first installation intervention that aims to solicit their imagination with respect to the act of ascending, exploiting a perspective device to translate the concept of walking from the earth to the sky.
Al-kymeia. Giardino dei quattro elementi, 2022
Marzia Ricci + Mariachiara Butera (section “The way of the air”)
UNIPA
Architettura degli spazi espositivi ed eventi – prof. Giuseppe Marsala
THE VIBRATION OF AIR. PERFORMANCE. THE GONG.
Suspended from the load-bearing wooden lintel above the third pool will be the installation of the gong. According to Yogi Bhajan , yoga guru and spiritual teacher of Indian origin, the gong is sound of creation, p rime sound of the universe and echo of the original word that created the world. The gong today is used during breathing and yoga practices, d where yog i makes a journey to the Universe.
Al-kymeia. Giardino dei quattro elementi, 2022
Marzia Ricci + Mariachiara Butera (section “The way of the air”)
UNIPA
Architettura degli spazi espositivi ed eventi – prof. Giuseppe Marsala
THE SUBLIMATION OF AIR.
The path continues linearly with a succession of interventions based on the sonic perception of air; in particular, three registers of interes se related to man’s ability to transform air into sounds, in what are considered three levels of action:
+ Voice – DEMETRIO STRATOS – action of the body
^ Wind – SOUND INSTALLATIONS (AA.VV.) – transformation of nature
+ Atmosphere – NASA -encoding of the universe.
In this section of the path, the visitor can make use of of headphones placed punctually within each intervention installation, in order to perceive the sound deeply and intimately.
Al-kymeia. Giardino dei quattro elementi, 2022
Marzia Ricci + Mariachiara Butera (section “The ascent to fire“)
UNIPA
Architettura degli spazi espositivi ed eventi – prof. Giuseppe Marsala
Al-kymeia. Giardino dei quattro elementi is an installation at the terraced garden within Viale delle Scienze (University of Palermo), located next to the department of Biological, Chemical and Physical Sciences, in the proximity of Pavilion No. 16-18, designed by architect Vittorio Gregotti in 1969.
The entire area develops in length as a long corridor and in height. Geometric spaces prevail over the lush and uncultivated nature but also organized geometrically. The characteristics of the architecture suggested the founding theme: the four natural elements: Air, Fire, Earth and Air. The path is articulated along a directrix that leads the user to explore each single natural element, in an experience made of images, sounds and smells.
The term alchemy is derived from the Arabic al-khīmiyya or al-kīmiyya composed of the determinative article al- and the word kīmiyya signifying “chemistry,” and which in turn would seem to be descended from the Greek word khymeia meaning “to fuse,” “to cast together,” “weld,” “attach,” etc.
Al-kymeia | air is to see the air. Air as colour.
Al-kymeia | air is to breath in and receive relief. Air as a transformative incipit.
Al-kymeia | air is to rising up in the air. Air as installation.
Al-kymeia | air is pounding the air. Air as voice, wind, athmosphere.
Air, as an element essential to life, has always been consumed and transformed by human action. In this exhibition, we want to emphasize the human ability to sublimate it when processed and shaped into the forms of sound. The characteristic of linearity inherent in the space of air is amplified and re-signified through a path that the viewer takes through it, which is why it is called THE WAY OF THE AIR. The linearity of the space is cadenced by the presence of light truss canopies that are identified as essential elements to the act of installation that operates through suspension.
marzia ricci 