Out of This WorldVENETIAN SATELLITE at Caffè Florian
What do a satellite and a Venetian café have in common? A lot more than meets the eye. First, like all great works of art, they are both concerned with communication. In 1720, long before cell phones and email, news spread quickly and elegantly over coffee and drinks in Piazza San Marco at Caffè Florian. And in those days, it was the only café to admit women. At the end of the last century, 1895, the first Venice Biennale was organized through discussions in the Caffè Florian’s Sala del Senato (Senate Room). Most importantly, Caffè Florian remained open and active during times of war, when we need communication and human contact most. This series is an evolution of the theme in my work; the fragility of life and the search for beauty. It also continues to research; how did we get here, where are we going and why are we here. This work, like my other two works that proceeded it, Fragmented Peace and Luna Piena/ Full Moon, is a happy marriage of the ancient techniques of Murano glass blowing and the contemporary medium of computerized drawing. I am honored to be invited to exhibit VENETIAN SATELLITE at Caffè Florian; one of my favorite places on earth and the perfect space for all of the above reasons and more. This sculpture is inspired by Telstar, the first communications satellite. Telstar was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral on July 10, 1962 and is responsible for direct TV, emails, international phone calls, cell phones and more. By coincidence, VENETIAN SATELLITE is almost exactly the same size and weight as the original Telstar, which tied together the ears and eyes of the world. It is my hope that VENETIAN SATELLITE inspires the same. Telstar is the only satellite with its own song, written by British music producer, Joe Meek, which became the best selling instrumental in the country’s history -tying together art and science once again. Accompanying VENETIAN SATELLITE is the MOONIK family, my Martian friends, who have to Venice to see canals that flow, people communicating face to face in Caffè Florian and artists working with their hands. These are all missing on Mars. There is plenty of evidence in Venice that Martians have visited and are welcomed. As Carl Sagan said “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” There is the Hotel Marte (Mars), the Hotel Saturnia (Saturn), Hotel Universo (Universe) and Hotel Luna (Moon). The fiery furnaces in Murano are reminiscent of the volcanoes on Mars and the Redentore fireworks are like meteor showers in space. And it seems Venice has more Full Moons than anywhere else on the planet. Of course gondolas are not rockets and vaporettos are not Rovers, but the canals move and people communicate and work with their hands. Martians have come here to observe one of the last places on earth where meaningful conversations still happen over coffee, where beauty is celebrated and computers have not replaced the artist’s hands. We can learn a lot from Martians. They communicate tolerance of those different from ourselves. They have come to warn us to treasure our natural environment before it disappears as it did on Mars and on the Moon and to respect and support the arts and artists since they are among the last of the cultural civilization as we know it. This is fundamentally Venice and New York, where I am privileged to have lived and worked consistently and passionately for more than 30 years. In this age of wireless relationships, it is important to remember and frequent the places where coffee and conversations became and still are an art form. Having my work inside Caffè Florian is a dream- come- true for me. Thank you, Signora Vedaldi and Stefano Stipitivich, for bringing VENETIAN SATELLITE and MOONIK, to life. Judi Harvest |