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Lot Essay
Created in 1979, the meticulously constructed Archivio delle ossessioni. L’acqua explores the rich, multidimensional character of Gianfranco Baruchello’s unique visual language. Assembled using a variety of found elements, from newspaper clippings to old photographs and diagrams, which the artist then combined with lengths of string, small pencil drawings, and intricate constructions from card, the work appears as its own miniature world, an imaginary ‘archive’ of the artist’s own creation, dedicated to his obsession with water. Photographs of the abstract rippling patterns of water sit alongside handmade charts and drawings at the back of the box, while a series of ‘bookshelves’ constructed in a honeycomb pattern stand below, their spaces occupied by tiny pieces of paper, either
rolled-up to mimic the efect of a stack of books or stretched along the board so that the text is visible to the audience. At once familiar and alien, these items were chosen for the unique meaning they held for the artist, and then joined together in the theatrical space of the box using a highly personal logic that remains completely his own. Through these fragments, Baruchello sought to investigate not only the mechanics of thought, tracing the paths of his ideas as they weave through the labyrinth of his mind, but also the problems inherent in the establishment of any archive, questioning the process of classifcation and collection which underpinned such a space and its potential legibility to those not involved in its creation. It was the complexity of these invisible networks of connections that lay within Baruchello’s compositions which led Marcel Duchamp, a close friend and early supporter of the artist, to advise that these intricate, multi-faceted works should be ‘viewed from close up over the course of an hour,’ to best appreciate their delicate intricacy and depth of meaning (Duchamp, quoted in L. Cerizza, ‘Painting the mind Mind the painting: An introduction to Gianfranco Baruchello’s pictorial space,’ in Gianfranco Baruchello: New Works, exh. cat., Bergen, 2016, n.p.).
According to Baruchello, their friendship began rather unexpectedly in the autumn of 1962, when he received a call out of the blue one day at his fat in Paris from a South American friend, inviting him to lunch. When the friend revealed that they would be dining with Duchamp, Baruchello jumped at the chance. The only problem? The lunch would be in Milan. Without hesitation, Baruchello travelled straight to the airport and hopped on a fight from from Paris to Milan, ‘just to meet him’ (Baruchello, quoted in G. Maruzzelli, ‘At 93, Italian artist Gianfranco Baruchello is still going strong,’ South China Morning Post, 17 November 2017, https://www.scmp.com/magazines/postmagazine/arts-music/article/2120132/93-italian-artist-gianfrancobaruchello- still, accessed 04/09/2018, 15.23). This encounter marked the beginning of a close and fruitful friendship between the two artists, one that would have a profound impact on Baruchello’s art, shaping his oeuvre for years to come.
rolled-up to mimic the efect of a stack of books or stretched along the board so that the text is visible to the audience. At once familiar and alien, these items were chosen for the unique meaning they held for the artist, and then joined together in the theatrical space of the box using a highly personal logic that remains completely his own. Through these fragments, Baruchello sought to investigate not only the mechanics of thought, tracing the paths of his ideas as they weave through the labyrinth of his mind, but also the problems inherent in the establishment of any archive, questioning the process of classifcation and collection which underpinned such a space and its potential legibility to those not involved in its creation. It was the complexity of these invisible networks of connections that lay within Baruchello’s compositions which led Marcel Duchamp, a close friend and early supporter of the artist, to advise that these intricate, multi-faceted works should be ‘viewed from close up over the course of an hour,’ to best appreciate their delicate intricacy and depth of meaning (Duchamp, quoted in L. Cerizza, ‘Painting the mind Mind the painting: An introduction to Gianfranco Baruchello’s pictorial space,’ in Gianfranco Baruchello: New Works, exh. cat., Bergen, 2016, n.p.).
According to Baruchello, their friendship began rather unexpectedly in the autumn of 1962, when he received a call out of the blue one day at his fat in Paris from a South American friend, inviting him to lunch. When the friend revealed that they would be dining with Duchamp, Baruchello jumped at the chance. The only problem? The lunch would be in Milan. Without hesitation, Baruchello travelled straight to the airport and hopped on a fight from from Paris to Milan, ‘just to meet him’ (Baruchello, quoted in G. Maruzzelli, ‘At 93, Italian artist Gianfranco Baruchello is still going strong,’ South China Morning Post, 17 November 2017, https://www.scmp.com/magazines/postmagazine/arts-music/article/2120132/93-italian-artist-gianfrancobaruchello- still, accessed 04/09/2018, 15.23). This encounter marked the beginning of a close and fruitful friendship between the two artists, one that would have a profound impact on Baruchello’s art, shaping his oeuvre for years to come.