Palinsesti – Sound Boxes

Giulia Giorgi, Giovanni Rubino, Soundboxes, Palinsesti 2012

Uršula Berlot’s artworks represent an union of creative thinking and the observer’s physical and emotional reaction. In the project Sledi/Traces the core concept is to record and show “mental spaces”, namely the images of the cognitive reactions that take place when viewing works of art. This creates a sort of closed circuit in which the artist drives her creative process by putting herself in the role of the observer and by scientifically recording the reactions caused by the observation of an artwork. It’s these reactions that are sent back to the public.

The artist’s experiments begin with a “physical-optical” experience in the use of light and with the graphical processing of transparent surfaces. This recalls the first kinetic works and a surrealistic inspiration. Indeed, the first part of the design phase consists of free association of thoughts, while the other one focuses on the perceptive aspect of such action, referring to ambitious philosophical questions from an almost scientific perspective. The presence of the divine, the mystery of life and the perceptions of phenomena are all themes which emerge from the observation of artworks such as Fraktal/Fractal, in which the reflected image recalls to the complexity of mental structures, and Privlačnosti/Attraction, that represents the cognitive process. In Luminescenca/Luminescence, site specific installation created for the Altan Chapel, the sensitivity of the audience is stimulated on the theme of the fourth dimension, because the light is reflected on a surface or on a mirror and sent in three-dimensional space that changes in time.

Up to now, Uršula Berlot has implemented a process of dematerialization of the pictorial surface, choosing transparent materials such as plexiglass, or working directly in the places where her installations are exhibited. She then added an abstract component to these concrete elements using light or sound. The interaction between these elements and the viewer’s emotional involvement leads to a conflict between the consciousness the viewer has of the physical part of the artwork, and his unconscious which leads him to feel and understand the irrational part of the work. Optical or auditive stimulus finally becomes cognitive stimulus and a part of the artwork itself.