MADEs, 2009

a raw introduction to Meta Art Devices 

@ Venice Biennale 2009 and 2013

- FOR

Arsenalle, Venice Bienalle


- DATE

2009 – 2013


- TYPE

Intervention & Photography


A Meta-Art Device is an artwork designed to work in relationship with another artwork.


It only becomes an actual artwork when it enters relationship with another artwork. At this very moment the MADe is activated and its master function becomes to open the hermetic aura of the former enclosed artwork giving the user (a new notion for the viewer) the control of an operation that we still know little about: the physical-symbolic interaction between artworks.


MADEs exist to dialogue with other artworks, to amplify, challenge or subvert their meanings. They breathe in the same space, and yet they transform each other – in a place where lies the culture infraslim.


MADEs exist to pop the bubble of the artwork and its current function. A function enclosed in itself, in the artist mindset or in a subtle network of imaginaries. Shall we change what an artwork is? Shall we position the notion of the artwork in a new direction?


In the vibrant landscape of the Venice Biennale in the years 2009 (Fare Mondi) and 2013 (The Encyclopedic Palace), this transformative principle was put into action. An exploratory device made of venetian marbled paper (Carta Marmorizzata) with a cut-out of the letter "i" functioned as an interaction key, stealthily intervening beneath a selection of the Biennale's artworks. It was a quiet act of creative dialogue and response – an echo and a little ripple in that ocean of artistic expression.

- FOR

Arsenalle, Venice Bienalle


- DATE

2009 – 2013


- TYPE

Intervention & Photography


These interventions, each a whisper of artistic discourse, were photographed. These images served as a registration and articulation of this experimental endeavor still in its infancy: the notion of meta-artworks


This notion borrows from Duchamp's playful assertion that "art is a game among all artists of all eras". In this game, the interaction between artworks, between artists, became an active exploration – a pathway, a bridge, a window unfolding between the often-sealed realms of contemporary artists.


This opened an avenue for a new form of communication, a dialogue that did not merely depend on the physical, aesthetic, or philosophical proximities. Instead, it evolved into a unique mode of interaction, unearthing hidden messages within artworks that were only visible through the lens of another artwork.


This new spectrum of interaction blurs the boundaries between artworks, artists, and the public. The audience is never a passive observer but an active participant in the signification process and the construction of the work. Why not give tools for them? Artistic tools. Maybe their creation will frighten the ouvre. May the ouvre really needs some adrenaline these days. The artwork becomes a conduit of conversation, a meta-art device in the game of art.


This opens up an entirely new field for development, research, and experience in the art world. Surely enough worthy of exploration. The Meta Art Device is thus the genesis and the principle of a field ripe for cultivation, exploration and active contemplation.


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  • *this experimental project is supported by the author PhD. Marcelo Noah and the actress Carolina Manica