Italian artist Filippo Minelli became fascinated with smokebombs after viewing them in use during various political protests. Keeping that in mind, the artist chose to photograph many of these smokebombs in a rather unusual setting. Instead of seeing these immense color saturated plumes of smoke arising from the chaotic scenes of a protest, the artist chose to photograph them in a different element entirely.
Instead, Minelli chose to utilize the striking natural landscapes of Italy’s Castle Hill region for his recent works, decontextualizing smokebombs in an attempt to isolate them in a state of pure beauty.
…silence and light are always there, especially in the natural or abandoned environments I look for. If you visit them by yourself you realize there is something that contains the landscape, and that thing is silence. Silence in the desert is different from silence in the mountains, and different again from the silence you experience while stopping at a red light in the city. I wanted to give that element a physical shape.
–Filippo Minelli
“Le forme del silenzio” Filippo Minelli, curated by Paolo Bolpagni, September 20, 7pm, Castello di Bornato, Italy.
(Images: Filippo Minelli)
