Dario Costi, Paolo Mezzadri

The Matter of Light

Small Objects for Living in the World

Curated by Antonello Marotta

June 20, 9:30 PM – June 21, 6:00 PM

Volumnia, Piacenza

Volumnia is pleased to host The Matter of Light. Small Objects for Living in the World, a project curated by Antonello Marotta and published by LetteraVentidue (Siracusa). The exhibition will be open continuously from 9:30 PM on June 20 to 9:00 AM on June 21 to celebrate the summer solstice.

The curator of the exhibition is Antonello Marotta, architect and architectural theorist, professor of Architectural Composition at the Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning, University of Sassari. The installation design is by Simona Melli with Studio MC2AA, in collaboration with Antonio Villa. Fabio Capanni musician, architect, and a key figure in the international experimental music scene since the late 1980s has composed a three-part soundscape specifically for the space. This composition will accompany a contemporary dance performance by Riccardo Buscarini, founder of De Arte Saltandi, together with Eleonora Marzani.

The project originates from a dialogue between Dario Costi an architect whose passion for art drives his exploration of light as both a compositional tool and a reflection of inner landscapes and Paolo Mezzadri, an artist who works with iron, steel sheets, and metal leaf, investigating how matter transforms over time through interaction with air and light.

The exhibition layout includes a series of artworks displayed along the side aisles and a large installation under the dome. In the choir, a selection of unique furnishings and design objects is presented—chairs, tables, and various everyday pieces—shaped from folded welded sheet metal, finished with metallic leaf, and enriched with laminates in different colors.

Accompanying the exhibition is the catalogue Dario Costi, Paolo Mezzadri. The Matter of Light. Small Objects for Living in the World, curated by Antonello Marotta and published by LetteraVentidue. The book includes a contribution by the curator, a text by psychoanalyst Ivan Paterlini who has long studied art as an expression of the unconscious and reflections by Fabio Capanni on the relationship between sound and light.