After two years of theory and practical research in a countryside house, Harry Baldissera founds Paciu Maison, an art factory and a place of cultural promotion based on the concept of "rizoma" (Deleuze-Guattari), an acentric system where every point is linked to the others, but every trait of the system doesn't refers to similar ones. Painter, sculptor, scenographer, designer: Baldissera works experimenting different tecniques, and the most used is fabric mixed with plaster. The majority of his artworks reflects the concept of "palimpsest" of Gérard Genette:
continuous developing or reclaiming from a starting idea, changing its features without modifying its essence. His goal is creating an identity of recollections, perceiving the idea of art in constant evolution, from past to present, from memory to oblivion.
1- Where does the idea for Paciu Maison come from? What is its aim?
The idea that lies beside the foundation of Paciu Maison is the research about contemporary art, and investigating the world through the "eye of art". What was essential was the choice of expanding the boundaries of the art residency, overcoming the idea of "habitable artwork". The Maison is indeed an artwork and a place for art production.
2- How does this happen?
This kind of initiative lies with the importance of interpersonal exchange. Art is the greatest "exchange", the heaviest sharing which weighs on both the artist and the spectator. Art offers analysis, narration, feelings: this is what produces engagement, the ultimate "exchange". In a period like ours, based on individualism and addictions, the "exchange" is the path to freedom. The research activity lays the foundations on the planning and the promotion of events, exhibitions, art performances, focusing on the exchange between people.
3- At Paciu Maison the approach at art can be interpretated as instictual. How can you deny this statement?
The instinctive approach implicates a "wait". The instinctive part of human mind reveals itself thanks to feelings, searching for irrationality: it is an outburst, energy which becomes artwork, the engine of the artist. This situation needs time, because the instinct reveals itself in uncontrollable explosions. The impulsive execution of art is due to the essence of its executor and the result is unexpected. The connection between art and observer starts from the primitive fundaments of the human being.
4 – How do the rooms in Paciu Maison connect with your own life experience?
The rooms of Paciu Maison are connected in two different levels: the practical and the emotional one. The practical level is based on the choice of the materials; in most of the rooms the sense of movement and of time prevail. The emotional level connects to the "explosions" I have told about before. Like from a volcano, from every explosion pours out "magmatic" material which takes form in art, lacking chronological order. The rooms are transcribed in an emotional map: Paciu Maison becomes a map for the soul.
5 – Paciu Maison dimostra grande flessibilità e adattamento, d’altronde alla base della tua creatività vi è l’arte del “re-made” e del riuso. Mediante quale processo gli oggetti quotidiani di Paciu Maison prendono vita nell’arte?
The ready-made could be spontaneous, in case people do not have the possibility to buy or have the materials. That does not mean to follow the path of Duchamp: it is a necessity dictated by pragmatism and a need to establish connection between me and what I use. The idea is to create gold without the actual mineral: the artwork develops without the benefits of the richness of its materials.
6- Paciu Maison è “politica-sociale”, prima che “individuale-personale”, o è possibile che abbracci entrambe le visioni?
Paciu Maison embrases both visions, indeed it works at 360 degrees. Its goal is an investigation into time, society and people. Our work is a continuous training course, a path that challenges the schemes of the cliché or the routine, both as group and individuals.