The Unexposed Secret of Lucio Fontana

Inadequacy
Concepts like life and art must be mixed with each other since there is no need for keeping a distance between human work and the human being itself. Life is art (creative energy - sexual) Who said that? That is why the most interesting art is that it talks about life which unravels different experiences, recollects the details, curiosities, and perspectives.

In the realm of life it is essential to defy the notion of a perfectionism that can be reached (in in order to be able to meet this kind of expectation, the only art we can refer to is that of the cinema). Failure is the hallmark of being Human The stumbling block upon which we've been at one point or another: superficial judgement, haste, fear or anger, the unending search for security and control bad choices. Don't you dare say you've never made any of these mistakes?

Open: a new perspective to view the world from
When we slip, we hurt ourselves more or less and are inclined to judge the fall as a mistake, or to make the error as a result of the expectations we have of ourselves and other people. The injury is actually the place where we can are able to see the truth, from which we can no longer rely on the false notion of perfect (which in the event that it was so should not hurt) and look at the things that are broken: we look through it and then look at ourselves.

Fontana cut with the awareness the possibility of opening up, breaking or and tearing because destroying is often the strongest creative act, all the more so in a society that, since a very early stage, we're immersed in a powerful, imprinted system of beliefs and models. It's not a coincidence that Fontana stated in 1963 in the course of an interview Nerio Minuzzo that:

"The critics have always criticized me, but I never thought about it. I went ahead anyway and I didn't take the salute of anyone. Over  fontana artist , I was called "the one that has the holes' with a bit of pity. Today, I realize that my cuts and holes have created a taste, are accepted and have even found practical applications. In  lucio fontana on the threshold  and theatres they make ceilings with holes. Because , today that even people on the street can appreciate the latest forms. It's the artists, unfortunately, who understand little '.

When Fontana talks about streetspeople, he invokes the image of imperfection in which the hole represents the same as every other, where the transformation of life can be seen. He is not afraid of dirt nor of the violent nature of the creative act and throws tar at the sculpture of a human figure and calls it 'Black Man'.

A few years later, the cut becomes the conquest of space, as an attempt to overcome sculpture and painting, by creating an entirely new space that combines them both: a break from verticality in favour of the possibility of crossing.

This pulsation, which is triggered by inhaling and exhaling of the canvas is reminiscent from afar more intellectual and bourgeois version of the work Gina Pane later performed on her body: the gesture remains the eternal character in the context of art is destined to be destroyed. The cuts and wounds are the path, boundary and exchange. The artist opens the canvas by splitting it in two and declares its finiteness; the holes are transformed into black holes, which give the illusion of depth and reveal the infinite that we will never be able to comprehend.

We are waiting for new discoveries that we don't yet know
Fontana described the cuts as "Waits," which are openings that allow new and unique things emerge which we don't are aware of.

If we make a mistake and hurt or injure the other, we have a waiting period before we react. First the shock of the error and the failure to be overcome, after that, figuring out what steps to take to remedy the damage or to get it out of the way and then waiting for the consequences of that break, that slip that could turn out to be an entirely new resource. It could also be a waste of time.

Few understood (and are able to comprehend) this concept because they are constantly judging what reality and the human condition ought to be, and how they should be compared to the dual nature of the canvas. We fight with all our might the right ways, the best way to appear and be as a person in the society, that we turn to norms that ultimately define the concept of normativity.

There is nothing more absurd than this. In our belief that we are experts, we apply our yardstick to every other organism and ecosystem on the planet, but in reality we view it from a narrow and biased point of view which has nothing to do with reality. Anthropocentrism and personal interpretations of the other which are often not the right ones.

Accept that there is no perfection in the sense of absolute perfection.
This also applies to the society that demands us to be better at all costs, without pondering the fact that perhaps, rather than raising standards, we should accept more of what is, just the way it is. Do we accept pain? Do we accept death? Do we accept body parts? Do we accept diversity? The most important thing is, once accepting, do we dignify?

In most cases, we resort to invisibilising what does not coincide with the "perfect" of our little world or universe. We are feel angry, shocked, and disgusted and pushed aside, then and swept under the rug and we then show the imperfections that we really are, yet refuse to accept.

Understanding one's own limitations is important and so is understanding the interconnectedness of everything in the world system. Either we are ALL placed in a position where we can give our best, or there is no competition or effort worthwhile, except for the goal of fuelling inequalities. It is all well and good to know that some people who have put in many hours of work have succeeded and are so fortunate. But in the larger context, always stretching the boundaries just a bit further the definition of 'a perfect' in an impermanent' context; no "perfection" in the absolute sense.

Does this even exist?

Cut and let the truth be revealed
We can say that Fontana attempted to do so, since from the beginning, he rejected the easy ways to be successful, opting instead to explore the unknown and unpredictably, that is to say, he renounced the notion of being the only and following the research path which led him to discover certain truths.

For me, and my personal opinion, Fontana is the one who rips the curtain and lets light in, even though the black sails are obscured in the background. An artist of spatial art and one of the early pioneers of this art, it is not understood solely as a work but also as a gesture an act, in and around it. as a consequence of action in space, and performance as the activation of narrative, of which much is being done today.

For me, his cuts reveal all of these, opening new perspectives for art, new points of view about the world and new questions. The wound for this, is not just pain, the wound is a symbol of the fragility, mortality, and fragility. A wound can make us question our existence as well as make us doubt how we can improve our lives, and this is essential to stay on the ground. While it can be difficult to suffer and as much as, in a perfect narrative of existence, it would be great (and right) to learn only by positive reinforcements. As long as we as a society do not want to be a part of the suffering of others as well than our own, we're bound to remain in the unsolved and to live in an unfulfilled reality.

So let's enjoy the cinema and the happy endings it brings, its beauty that we take for granted , and that we take as a model for life since the visual arts, contrary to what they appear are the product of pain, and every artist, to convey a bit of truth, must pass through the wound.