The colors of stone, sea and time

Tracing Venice, the project-installation curated by Zanellato/Bortotto and De Castelli for Homo Faber, is a fascinating contemporary reinterpretation of an age-old decorative gem. Revealing its fragility

Tracing Venice, Homo Faber 2022 - Photo © Alessandra Chemollo, Michelangelo Foundation
Tracing Venice, Homo Faber 2022 - Photo © Alessandra Chemollo, Michelangelo Foundation

One of the reasons to visit Homo Faber, the event in Venice on contemporary crafts (Island of San Giorgio, until 01-05-2022), is Tracing Venice, a site-specific installation curated by Zanellato/Bortotto and De Castelli.

The fulcrum of the project is composed of a series of works, large panels made in a mosaic of metals, inspired by the floors in St. Mark’s Basilica. The designs with their intricate, fascinating geometries are always missing some pieces: a way to remind us of the fragility of these decorations, which for centuries have stood up to wear and to flooding during high tides. Fragile, but also resistant to the passing of time.

“In our work we are often inspired by Venice, starting with our first piece (the project Acqua Alta: a series of fabrics developed in collaboration with Rubelli, some fragrances with dispensers and a table lamp, ed.). We constantly conduct research on the city,” says Giorgia Zanellato. “With the exceptional high tide on the night of 12-13 November 2019 we returned to an idea, that of working on the mosaics of the floors of St. Mark’s: it is located in the lowest part of the city, the one most impacted by flooding, a constant battle against damage. Our project also sets out to raise awareness.”

The motifs have been recreated in metal: “We wanted it to be a reinterpretation, not a copy. With De Castelli, which has over 50 different finishes for metals in its catalogue, we found the perfect counterpart, capable of recreating the sensation of the various stones. So in the end it became a work we have produced together.”

Giorgia Zanellato & Daniele Bortotto - Photo © Laila Pozzo, Michelangelo Foundation
Giorgia Zanellato & Daniele Bortotto – Photo © Laila Pozzo, Michelangelo Foundation

“The project was developed during the pandemic: a phase of standstill for the company, but one that granted us time for this type of research, which might not have been possible under normal conditions,” Daniele Bortotto adds. A precious project – every tile has been crafted by hand – of great visual impact. It could be industrialized and put on the market one day. So stay tuned.