words by Gabi Logan
On Saturday, the 19th of May 2012, Italian video installation artist Fabrizio Plessi will light up the Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) in Agrigento, Sicily, with “Monumenta”, a series of towers inspired by the 5th-century BC ruins at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Plessi’s nine towers, each six meters tall with three-by-four meter bases, incorporate the structural elements of a Greek hecatomb, an alter for sacrificing animals to the Gods, into the ideals of Agrigentan philosopher Empedocles, who originated the concept of the four elements—water, air, earth and fire.
From the outside, the towers look like solid stone. Made in Sicily, through a mix of centuries-old local artisanal knowledge and modern technology, they are in covered artificial tufo, a type of soft rock formed from volcanic ash, to emulate the stone used in the surrounding Greek monuments. On the inside of the hollow rectangles, video projections bring the four elements to life against the historic background.
Since his landmark Roma installation in Kassel, Germany, in 1987, Plessi has been a pioneer in the world of video art, creating installations for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Biennial Gardens in Venice. For “Monumenta”, Plessi will power his video projections with solar panels, creating the first piece of contemporary art powered by renewable energy.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, the Valley of the Temples archaeological park contains some of the most outstanding extent monuments of Ancient Greek art and culture. In 2010 and 2011 respectively, the park hosted “Contemporary Art for the Temple of Zeus” and Igor Mitoraj’s statues for “Space of the Gods”.
The installation opens to the public on the 20th of May and runs until the 5th of November 2012.
