Interno (notte), 2004

On a black plinth, four portrait frames with a black passepartout – containing the reproduction of a waiter in the background of the interior of a Grand Hotel – are heaped together so that they are staggered one on top of the other. Two of them are face down and the other two are seen from the recto, with the image almost hidden by a piece of blue cardstock applied to the glass. The first portrait holder from the top features a star chart applied to it – cropped on both sides – topped at the centre by a blue crystal globe, held down by the stand of the portrait holder (moreover, the placement of the sphere coincides with the centre of the plinth).
The ensemble of elements placed one on top of the other, sheltered from the light – as the title suggests1 – seems to be seeking a point of equilibrium evoked by the globe and the star chart, the symbols of a fullfilled whole, which serve as an ideal pivot for the composition in disarray.

1 In the solo exhibition in Torre Pellice in 2004, for which the work was made, the title was a pendant to Interno (giorno) (GPO-0889), a work comprising elements suspended in complete daylight.