Scultura n. 12 

Curator: This intriguing work is titled "Scultura n. 12" by Fausto Melotti. Made of metal, it is one of his signature abstract sculptures. What’s your initial take on it? Editor: It feels rather…austere. The smooth grey curve contrasting with those sharp, white rectilinear forms creates a sense of tension. It almost looks like an unfinished building or maybe the skeleton of a forgotten machine. Curator: I love that. It has a theatrical presence. It’s a stage set for something – a memory, a feeling, a pure geometric dance. Melotti was, at one point, a classically trained musician and a pianist. These later sculptures for me have a sense of harmony and musical intervals, like he is orchestrating visual silence and emptiness. Editor: Well, looking at the materials – metal is not usually the first material you would associate with such a delicate outcome, right? The thinness of the supports gives a sense of almost defying the physical properties of its core medium. The production itself is crucial. How it’s cut, welded, treated… the craft has a strong voice in the object. Curator: Absolutely. There is so much refinement here. But the beauty is also in what's absent. It hints at a hidden complexity and a deeper philosophical reflection—Melotti explores a delicate balance between presence and absence, fullness and emptiness. It evokes such profound contemplation! Editor: Thinking about it in terms of mass production, standardization comes to mind. Yet the craftsmanship counters this notion. I’m left questioning: what does handmade mean, when it comes to abstraction? I also wonder about consumption and obsolescence… Will it endure, or is it simply of its time? Curator: These forms, to me, have a timelessness. It speaks to fundamental relationships – figure and ground, positive and negative space, and of course, to music. I leave it to others to discuss what the sculptures mean. I rather feel them as a visual sonnet. Editor: In its simplicity and bare construction, there’s indeed a challenge, an unspoken dare to go beyond appearances and question production itself. It definitely brings out far more complex implications than one would assume!