Salvatore Arancio

About

A newly commissioned installation centered around the state of suspension between the natural and fictional world is presented on entry to the exhibition. The piece is inspired by the geological phenomenon called folded strata and the studies of 17th century scholar Athanasius Kitcher, concerning the cross section of the Earth conducted in order to prove the existence of subterranean fires. This piece develops Arancio's interest in challenging conventional ideas of beauty in nature and their relation with science with an emphasis on construction and staging.

A selection of drawings and etchings focus on imagery recurrent in 19th century geological illustrations. These take found images and use their literal meaning as a point of departure, transforming into poetic and visionary interpretations of nature. A new series of monotype prints and a sculptural piece depict images of mandrake roots. The root's lysergic powers and uncanny man-like shape have been the source for the creation of many myths through the ages. Arancio juxtaposes images that are at once disquieting, yet seductive.

The split screen video installation Shasta (2011), originally shot on Super 8 film, takes inspiration from a Native American tribe's account of the creation of Mount Shasta in California. The timeless visual and sound elements of the work stimulate ideas of narrative and storytelling in order to create a sense of awe seen as a metaphor for human inefficacy against the forces of nature.

Arancio has created new work for the exhibition that deliberately creates a connection between Spacex and its natural surroundings. The large print Bowerman's Nose (2011) depicts a rock formation composed of stacks of weathered granite that can be found on Dartmoor, situated on the northern slopes of Hayne Down near Manaton in Devon. Fascinated by the popular myths attached to the stone and its alleged past as a place of veneration, Arancio's manipulation takes it out of context. Here it is presented as a mysterious monolith, a sculptural form both impenetrable and remote.

Another example is the photo etching entitled An Active Volcanic Summit Emitting Steam and a Strong glow in the Valley of Stones (2011), created by manipulating an image originally found as an engraved plate in Henry Boswell's book: Antiquities of England & Wales, first published in 1786. The image illustrated the Valley of Rocks, near Lynton in north Devon, the origins of which have been attributed to an act of the Devil according to legend. The initial empirical value and teachings of the image, through Arancio's intervention, have been replaced with a visionary, gloomy and anguished horizon, it's undefined temporality seems to remain equidistant from a beginning and an end.

An Arrangement of the Materials Ejected develops Arancio's interest and investigation into ideas of nature and it's merging with science, myths and legends along with its relationship to the mystical.