Goldberg Variations, Aria #1 Installation

Graduated in piano, Marcello Simeone has developed knowledge and skills related to visual and plastic arts through his consistent attendance, from 1978 to the present day, at all editions of the International Exhibitions of the Venice Biennale. It was in this context that he felt the need to connect the academic rigor of musical studies with that of contemporary art. In a crescendo of curiosity, stimuli, and ideas about the present, this approach led him to work not only with piano keys but also with objects, materials, colors, and techniques aimed at constructing a new expressive narrative based on images. For several years, his research has focused on investigating the material and chromatic properties and potential, starting with the use of Nule wool (Sardinia, Italy), and has concentrated on the continuous discovery of renewed compositional balances. Wool, a guiding thread deeply rooted in the identity of his homeland, Sardinia, becomes a metaphor for communication and sharing, intertwining with other materials, other cultures: recycled bicycle tires, Murano glass, bronze and aluminum shavings. This mix of materials is combined with technology, which, seen as complementary to identity, literally illuminates the works thanks to impulses from software specifically designed by interactive designer Giulio Lai. Through the use of a microprocessor, Simeone has transcribed into light vibrations some of the most important musical scores in history, including J.S. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” and F. Schubert’s “Trio Op. 100”. The foundation of his poetics stems from the attempt to answer questions about being and its opposite, about life and what comes after life. His sound machines, like his light shows, reveal what is born not to be seen (but heard), digitally mimicking languages that, through hybridization, open up new expressive perspectives.