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Not Vital: borders, memory, matter.

Not vital is an artist but also an explorer. Born in 1948 in the Lower Engandine he spent his life traveling and exploring and this choice of life is reflected in his art, a constant experimentation in which he uses different media and materials. Sculptor, painter, graphic designer, architect, his art includes many types of artworks from large scale installations to small objects, which embed his vision, his experience, his life.

Not Vital, 25 pieces Let one hundred flowers bloom 2008 – Castello di Brolio

Through his travels he was able to get in touch with various cultures which influenced him and from which he borrowed elements and components even though he remains attached to his homeland, Switzerland, where he still lives and works today. As an artist he’s constantly evolving and as a result of that his artistic output often shows autobiographical traits. The use of the color white, for example, recalls the snow he experienced during his childhood; the elongated outlines of some of his installations resemble the large trees which used to be around the house where he spent the first part of his life. We could almost say that his art is an iconography that goes beyond borders, uniting different cultures in a almost archetypal way, giving birth to a dimension which exceeds time and space. As an example we can take the work Makaranta, a school he built in the desert of Niger not too far away from Agadez. It is a building designed to accommodate children not just inside but also outside: a step-pyramid where children, initially one hundred and fifty of them but now more than five hundred, can learn to play and sing. It isn’t just a place for learning but something made for the people and in order for people to live in it and to give life to the structure itself.

Pelvis by Not Vital at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

The relationship he has with his homeland made him then want to create a park in Sent, in the Lower Engandine. This project, called Parkin, was developed together with his brother Duri, an architect, and with him the artist created a dreamlike dimension, where the nature and the history of the place are very skillfully highlighted. Walking through the woods one can find himself near bridges featuring donkey heads, the Punt dals asens, which are inspired by the tales of Gudench Barbian a loved local writer. The Tour per ir per la bos-cha, literally the Tower that leads to the woods, is a panoramic wooden structure which contains a stairs that leads into a microforest of pine trees and larches. And then refuge huts, places which seem perfect for stopping by and reading fairy tales among enchanted and magical environments.

Not Vital, Heads, 2014. © Jonty Wilde

In his works, whether they’re are of large or small scale, the symbolism blends with an intimate voice that softly speaks about his passion for distant lands, for the cultures of the world for the matter in an ontological sense. And then there are his frequent journeys to visit Lucca, a city that has hosted him many times through the years and where he developed his interest for the study of stones, which he uses in his works and he tries to restore to their original conditions, as nature conceived them thousands of years ago.

Not Vital, 700 Snowballs, Abazzia di San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

This concept is present in his Dali Stones, that have nothing to do with the Spanish artist except for their surrealist character. Their name comes from Dali, a city in the south of China, known for its peculiar stones which, when viewed in cross section, resemble black and white landscapes. And that’s why Not Vital chooses to work with them, Nature becomes the real artist and his input is limited to choosing the right samples. Overall he is a sculptor who is interested in investigating the natural properties of the materials he uses, and wants to treat them as single natural entities with unique characteristics and this vision is reflected in his works which are defined by their extremely naturalness.

Chiara Guidoni

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