Livella verticale (Vertical Level) Possibly 1966 - 1973

Curator: Giovanni Anselmo created this piece, "Livella verticale (Vertical Level)," sometime between 1966 and 1973. What strikes you about it? Editor: It's disarmingly simple. Just a wooden level fixed against what appears to be a large blank canvas or board. There's a kind of serene, almost austere quality to it, an intentional stillness. Curator: Anselmo, aligned with Arte Povera, often employed humble, everyday materials, elevating them to art. This level isn't just wood and liquid; it's a symbol, hinting at balance, order, and perhaps even the inherent instability of existence. The level itself, traditionally a tool for establishing the horizontal, is positioned vertically, inverting its conventional use. Editor: Exactly! I'm drawn to the physical reality of it. What kind of wood? How was it worked? What was the manufacturing process of the level itself? I bet this simple piece speaks to labor, standardization, the creation of tools, and then, subversively, using a tool in such a strange way. It raises questions about the social structures we use to create a shared world. Curator: And within that context, the level, with its inherent capacity to denote the "true," becomes suspect. What is our agreed reality here? Where lies the standard when we can manipulate and displace it in this way? Editor: And did Anselmo choose the particular kind of wood intentionally? Wood itself carries a long and fascinating history of both tool making, domestic items, and also artistic renderings. And what about the relationship between object and wall, their materiality, and the social structures propping up their display as art. Curator: Fascinating to think how the piece embodies those layered oppositions - the tool of measurement becomes an aesthetic object. Anselmo turns this act into a profound meditation on perception, truth, and stability within the art world itself. It holds deeper, metaphorical implications far beyond the literal form we witness before us. Editor: It definitely makes me ponder how objects from the everyday enter into our more revered spaces. I love a piece that, through its simplicity, leads to so many different threads.