The death is the ends of a dark prison
Francesco Petrarca, Triumphus Mortis, in Triumphi, 1351 – 1374
Today we should reconsider our past and plan for a future that has never been before so uncertain. The appearance of a global war with nuclear potential makes our life very unstable, and the research and work of the sculptor Teo Martino fit into this war query. His works invite us to reflect on the perception we have of conflict starting from a personal experience that constantly pushes us towards an insatiable restlessness typical of the human being, such that it fits into our daily relationships and extends to our society of uncertainty (Bauman, 1991).
The toy guns and bombs exhibited with the ‘Baby Boom’ brand are an oxymoron as the literal translation of ‘Baby Boom’ means the demographic increase specifically related to World War II. In this case, the name of this body of works marked on weapon’s packaging with a pop font remarks the so popular use of those arms by the militias. Each element sculpted by Teo Martino is a marble reproduction of those weapons commonly sold in the United States to bring children closer to them and make them part of a common language. A language by now violent where the conflict is praised and normalised. This conflict is representative of a society that makes normal the repression of pain and death by reinforcing the alienation from suffering as if what was happening around us did not concern our lives. The artist’s intention, on the other hand, is to show how much the war we look at with detachment is closer than we think and, very often, we carry that same war within us as part of an inner conflict.
Teo Martino uses weapons as a metaphor for war and he examines it through the use of marble, an organic, living material, the result of fossil sediments that carries the memory of past lives and previous knowledge. His work is meticulous, intimate and tormented, a body-to-body relationship with marble which is a material that does not allow mistakes. During the carving process, it reveals itself little by little to the artist through a meditative and progressive improvement which gives us some examples of toy weapons virtuously packaged in a marble box that simulates the ephemeral simplicity of cardboard. Each element of this exhibition is at the same time misleading and disturbing as it imitates reality by introducing the viewer towards a surreal dimension, where each object loses its destructive functionality to take on a more aesthetic and contemplative one. The only note in the statuary white compared to the other war elements made of black Marquinia and Belgium marble is the rice skull which brings us back to the theme of vanitas. The skull is a warning to the precarious condition of human existence. This means that we all end up feeding the cycle of life, becoming food for other living beings. The black gas mask – on which are engraved the logos of Nike, a well-known multinational in the field of sportswear – balances the pure white skull as a symbol of the consumerist values of this era that are becoming increasingly unsustainable for the limited resources of our planet. The exacerbation of climate crises and the constant increase in toxic gases will soon lead us towards survival scenarios made possible only through the common use of gas masks sponsored by the largest multinational companies.
In Teo Martino’s hands, the marble assumes a ductile value and a volume that emerges «by force of removal» (Michelangelo, 16th century). It becomes a disciplining element for the artist who constantly overcomes the issues that the material presents to him. At the same time, it assumes an educational function for bystanders of its ‘Baby Boom’ series as we all become witnesses to those conflicts and tensions that depict our lives.
Entropia Design, Turin
Dates: 27th October – 30th November 2022
Opening Reception: 27th October, 6-10pm
Location: Entropia Design, Via S. Francesco da Paola 14/c, Turin, Italy