Hidden Relics
Claudio Sgarbi, in collaboration with David Bastien-Allard, Rubin de Jonge and Fabio Elia Sgarbi Biondi →
Video Montage “The Enigma of their End” by Fabio Elia Sgarbi Biondi, photographs and Cryptic Cross-icons by Fabio Elia Sgarbi Biondi, sounds From the Church of the Hider by Gaia Camilla, video animation ”live objects” by David Bastien-Allard.
→ Watch on Vimeo
Relics of a secret design were found hidden inside a wall of a building: a wooden spoon (that was meant to be abandoned after many meals?), a holy picture with a prayer (asking not to work on holidays), a king of cup briscola card (maybe the winning card of an unforgettable game?), two lavishly illustrated empty matchboxes (matches that have lighted so many cigarettes and fires at the building site?).
From inside a building wall in the historic district of Bologna (Italy). Gift by Carminella Biondi and Melita Castellina.
What can we infer from these relics? Endless stories. They were hidden for all the ghosts to come and for all our possible accidents of the real. They were given to me as a gift, because I am an architect, and the person (builder or rather un-builder) who handed them down to my donor has already joined the f|ock of the un-knowns. Even more unknown are now the hider(s) of the relics and all their “reasons”! I fathom, for a moment, their spontaneity and a naiveness that might alone be the most powerful deterrent against (our?) evil eyes. But maybe it was malice. Maybe it was apotropaic, or a curse, or a desperate search for accomplices - as we must be. Who knows!? This is what got hidden and found: all the infinitely secret “who-knows”.
From inside a building wall in the historic district of Bologna (Italy). Gift by Carminella Biondi and Melita Castellina.
The architecture of this secret lies in its meticulous secrecy. And the necessity of this secrecy is the essence of architecture. These relics were buried in a wall and so we have retrieved them. They were buried without any sign of their burial. The retrieval was unintentional. Was it? They were found as a surprise. Was this a mistake? Or a trick? Was the wake of this finding planned? Imagine that you are demolishing a wall to open a door. Suddenly you find a cavity and in that cavity you find some remains, curios, strange relics. Someone must have buried them there. “This is architecture” (A. Loos). There is always something to hide in order to build. There is always something to build in order to hide. This is why to build you shall hide something, whether you like it or not. But you arrogantly say: “I have nothing to hide!”.
This negation that you want to hide is the full expression of your hubris.
From inside a building wall in the historic district of Bologna (Italy). Gift by Carminella Biondi and Melita Castellina.
We, nilly-willy, conspirators of these secrets, are now even thinking again and again about how to accomplish the truth of the destiny for these relics – traveling vast distances, joining strange unpredictable situations into an empty school of architecture. Who-knows.
Now the relics have been unpacked, revealed, taken around and packed again into an urn and given as a gift to the School of Architecture.
The suggestion is to give them again as a gift to another person (aspiring architect?) and let the person decide what to do with them.
Video Recording “Un-packing the Relics Under the Bridge” by Rubin de Jonge, “Hiding and Revealing Hands” by Rubin de Jonge, voice by Claudio Sgarbi.
→ Watch on Vimeo
Three friends standing in a room with some chairs and a small table, the only objects in an empty room not fully constructed. They share a brief moment of pause from the demands constantly pulling in all directions. A knowing look is passed among them, acknowledging the transience of the moment.Relics are discarded, and time gives way, activity resumes.
In the naked sunlight dancing upon their shoulders.
Wooden Model “Urn” by Rubin de Jonge.
| Claudio Sgarbi | Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
In collaboration with David Bastien-Allard, Rubin de Jonge and Fabio Elia Sgarbi Biondi.