FROM STATE TO STATE – PARMA 2023

CSAC Museum and Archive – Abbey of Valserena
Parma 2023
Curated by Lorenzo Benedetti

 

The exhibition From State To State, conceived by Diego Tonus for the spaces of the CSAC in the Abbey of Valserena, allows the viewer to experience the installation of the work for the first time, along with the expandable-adaptable nature of the archive on display. For the viewer, the exhibition serves as the starting point for confrontation between the artist’s methods of investigation and those of the broader community of researchers, as well as the processes of transformation of the works and the role of the exhibition and exhibition design. The collaboration with the CSAC on the one hand provides Diego Tonus to undertake a spatial exploration of the paradoxical archive landscape evoked by the travel tickets in the exhibition inside the church and, on the other hand, a temporal exploration of the archives, interfacing with the works and the historical-cultural heritage to be found at the CSAC.

Heightening the reflection on themes such as the dimension of the journey, the critical vision of representation of places and territories, the nomadic dimension of the artwork and self-construction, a selection of artworks from the Archivio dal vivo (‘Living Archive’) are also presented, including works by: Archizoom Associati, Gabriele Basilico,  Cini Boeri, Andrea Branzi, Alighiero Boetti, Luciano Fabro, Ignazio Gardella, Luigi Ghirri, Enzo Mari, Bruno Munari, Bob Noorda, Ettore Sottsass, Bruno Stefani, Pino Tovaglia, Franco Vaccari.

This selection is articulated in an exhibition itinerary that explores the various spatial visions of the archives. The rigour found in the monumental installation of From State To State – from the filing pouches to the transport boxes, to the extension of its data in the Olivetti Synthesis filing cabinets – thus compares with CSAC’s ordered and organised paths in the Archivio dal vivo, through works and visual documents that trigger connections, relations and expansions between archives of various kinds.

The project was awarded the PAC 2021 – Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea (‘Plan for Contemporary Art’) promoted by the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, with which the work From State To State by Diego Tonus will become part of the permanent collection of the CSAC – Study Centre and Communication Archive of the University of Parma.

The project is part of the programme developed by the CSAC over recent years to reflect on the role of the archive itself as a form of representation of the contemporary sphere: a programme drawing on the involvement of artists in the reinterpretation of the centre’s own collections through curatorial projects and the production of new works, continuing in the long tradition of collecting works and fonds from throughout the twentieth century right up to the present day.

From State To State, Installation views of the expanded archive, Abbey of Valserena, CSAC Parma Permanent Collection, 2023

From State To State, Installation views of the expanded archive, Abbey of Valserena, CSAC Parma Permanent Collection, 2023

From State To State, Detail of the installation, Abbey of Valserena, CSAC Parma Permanent Collection, 2023

From State To State, Installation view, Abbey of Valserena, CSAC Parma Permanent Collection, 2023

View of Journey Printouts in Olivetti Synthesis drawers, designed by Ettore Sottsass, CSAC Parma 2023

View of Journey Printouts in Olivetti Synthesis drawers, designed by Ettore Sottsass, CSAC Parma 2023

From State To State, The Physical Archive, 2006-2022

Detail crate

From State To State, Selected custom archival folder (2010)

From State To State, Selected custom archival folder (2013)