South likes: Micol Assaël at Hangar Bicocca, Milan

South likes: Micol Assaël at Hangar Bicocca, Milan
ILIOKATAKINIOMUMASTILOPSARODIMAKOPIOTITA
Hangar Bicocca, Milan, Italy
31 January – 4 May, 2014

Next to the lofty presence of Anselm Kiefer’s towers, Micol Assaël’s solo show, curated by Andrea Lissoni, occupies 1800 square-meters of space in the Hangar Bicocca with four sizable installations by the italian-born artist. Assaël’s works match with the ex-industrial spaces of the venue, engaging with hardcore-engineering machinery that reproduces phenomena such as magnetism, electric fields, and mechanically generated labour. Living and working between Italy and Greece, the research of the artist is always mindful of the physical dimension that links arts and science. One of the works is a room with strong air currents and high-voltage cables that produce electric sparks. Another is a refrigerated room (-30°) with a seat heated at body temperature (+37°). A third one is composed by twenty-one engines generating noise and smoke, while the fourth is a series of panels with backlit beeswax sheets reproducing the frequency of the sound that bees make. Greasy pieces of machinery, gasoline-smelly fumes, electric shocks, and refrigerating cells dismiss the supercilious feeling of aseptic research labs. Reminiscent of her trips in Iceland and Siberia, Assaël’s research distances itself from the high-end technology that we saw on display at dOCUMENTA (13) and rather recalls a scenario that would be suitable for a vintage soviet-sci-fiction novel.

Michelangelo Corsaro

http://www.hangarbicocca.org/mostre/mostre/page-64/