Big Bambú
Enel Contemporanea 2012: special edition for the 50 years of enel in the city of Rome
Starting from December 11, a “Big Bambú” large installation will be opened by the American artists Doug and Mike Starn, who have been selected for Enel Contemporanea 2012. The work will take place in the spaces of MACRO Testaccio in Rome, in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company.
The American artists and identical twins, Doug and Mike Starn, will be the protagonists of the sixth edition of Enel Contemporanea. This event, curated by Francesco Bonami, is among the most prestigious international events of contemporary art. This year, a special edition for the 50th anniversary of Enel, starting from December 11, will see the creation of a giant “Big Bambú” installation created specifically for the city of Rome in the large spaces of MACRO Testaccio.
After the double carousel in motion by the German artist Carsten Höller and the "butterfly house" by the Dutch Bik Van der Pol - the new MACRO in Rome opened in 2010 with great success and landed in Moscow in September - the public can this year enjoy and experience a piece of work that promises to excite not only the experts. Created by Enel in the consolidated partnership with MACRO - Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma-, Enel Contemporanea 2012 will offer the public the chance to experience the museum area of MACRO Testaccio in a new way with the creation of new spaces and areas dedicated to the public.
In the museum thousands of bamboo rods will be connected and interlocked in a traditional method, which creates an unusual structure/sculpture where visitors can go along paths, walkways and feelings. It has been designed by the Starn brothers as a living organism, constantly changing in its complexity and energy. This work is part of the series “Big Bambú” and will be built up to about 25 meters thanks to a solid and flexible material, as well as highly symbolic, such as bamboo. The flexibility and interlacing of the bamboo not only makes the physical construction elements, but also the mental elements of reflection, visitors will be able to indulge in the space of this work of art in constant transformation conceived as if the structure was never finished. A large living organism that transforms itself, moves, adapts to time, that grows, not in size, but in sensations. This way, the Starn brothers create one of the few works of contemporary art that, while presents itself in its last version like a sculpture, remains continuously organic and alive; capable of welcoming the audience and incorporating them as an integral part of the process.
In 2010, the installation "Big Bambú: You Can’t, You Don’t and You Won’t Stop" by Doug and Mike Starn, on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, was the ninth most visited exhibition in the museum's history and the fourth most visited in the world that year. Subsequently, it was presented at the 54th Biennial of Venice in 2011. Doug and Mike Starn have worked together for over twenty years focusing mainly on conceptual art and photography. Their works, conceived as novel organic structures in evolution, are found in numerous public and private collections and have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, including MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Yokohama Museum of Art in Japan and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. Represented by the famous art dealer Leo Castelli from 1989 until his death, in their career, the Starn have received numerous awards. In the fall, in addition to the sixth edition of Enel Contemporanea, they are planning the exhibition "Gravity of Light" hosted by the Cincinnati Art Museum. They work in Beacon, New York.
With the launch of the sixth edition of Enel Contemporanea, renewing its partnership with the MACRO and creating a work of art for the city of Rome, Enel confirms its willingness to support the arts and culture in all its different forms and expressions, working alongside with major institutions for the benefit of the community.
Enel Contemporanea is the project promoted by Enel, which foresees every year the realization of works of art around the theme of Energy, and commissioned from artists of different nationalities (www.enelcontemporanea.com). This initiative, now in its sixth edition, aims to explore the concept of energy through the universal language of art. For several years Enel has committed to the language of contemporary art for its ability to express and communicate the values of innovation, environmental awareness and internationality. Three fundamental directions in which we face the challenge of a sustainable future and that well represent the path of development of a company like Enel at this moment.
Previous editions of Enel Contemporanea have presented the works of nine international artists: in 2011 the double carousel "Double Carousel with Zöllner Stripes" created by the German artist Carsten Höller, and in 2010 the butterfly house "Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling?” by the Dutch duo Bik Van der Pol, were presented in the opening of the new MACRO -Museum of Contemporary Art - in Rome. In 2009, the outdoor installation by the American Doug Aitken at the tip of the Isola Tiberina in Rome. In 2008, an eco-sustainable waiting room by the American Jeffrey Inaba at the Policlinico Umberto I in Rome; a series of images, neon lights and video projections by “assume vivid astro focus” in the ruins of Largo Argentina in Rome, and a hidden garden by the group A12 in the Venice Lagoon for The 11th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennial. In Rome, in 2007: a great work-construction site by the Italian Patrick Tuttofuoco in Piazza del Popolo; also an interactive fountain by the Danish artist Jeppe Hein in Garbatella and an evocative lunar eclipse by the English artist Angela Bulloch over the Ara Pacis .
Founded in 1962, after a historic political debate that led to the nationalization of 1,300 local utility companies to create an energy infrastructure able to unite the country and to promote the development, after 50 years, Enel is the largest power company in Italy and one of the first utilities in the world. It is an integrated operator in the sectors of electricity and gas. Enel currently operates in 40 countries around the world, has over 97,000 MW of net installed capacity, and sells electricity and gas to more than 61 million customers.