Mai Alzato Pietra Su Pietra, 1968
Information about the artwork
- Translated titleNever laid stone upon stone
- MaterialNeon tubes, fabric, natural fiber filling, foam, metal pipes, welded wire mesh, power cable, transformer
- DimensionsØ 200 cm
- Year of acquisition1986
- Inventory numberB 911
- On viewOn view
- Copyright© Mario Merz. VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn [2025]. Photo: Dirk Tacke, Museum Brandhorst, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
More about the artwork
In the mid-1960s, the Arte Povera movement emerged in Italy. It connected art and life, used simple, often recycled materials, and set mythical and poetic ideas against the logic of consumerism and industrial capitalism. One of its central figures was Mario Merz, who worked in the automotive city of Turin, a symbol of industrial progress. Merz understood his art as a critique of the alienation inherent in highly industrialized postwar society. Instead of emphasizing gloss and efficiency, he focused on elemental experiences such as building and dwelling, imbuing them with an existential, almost shamanic dimension. For this purpose, space-oriented works were more suitable than traditional painting. A central motif became the Igloo, which refers both to the beginnings of human culture and to possible dystopian futures. As a form, it connects the mathematical with the organic, stillness with movement. Capped by a neon inscription that ironically negates the burden of labor—"Never laid stone upon stone”—the igloo invites reflection on architecture as a fundamental form of shelter and on utopias beyond the logic of consumption.
