The Hidden Treasure
It may sometimes happen that curiosity can lead you to unknown lands and you may discover something unexpected whilst looking for something else. Getting to know video art is, in fact the fruit of such curiosity. It is so strong and far away from what is usually considered ‘common sense’ which the market trend imposed.It was precisely through our continuous research and explorations that we came across Alighiero Boetti’s films realised in 1969 and the Musical Drum that he assembled and arranged in the same year. The decision to utilize the video showed his desire to broaden his own horizons, to explore new boundaries by using an expressive means which was able create a direct communication between the the audience and the artist. Such great freedom opened up the doors to further exploration, and also to the fundamental idea that art and life should be experimented in a harmonized and harmonizing way. The three films realised by Boetti are the only which the artist made himself. He started to make them inside a collector’s studio with the collaboration of a friend of his, Clino Castelli who got hold of a camera and film for the occasion. Frank Stella’s large canvas provides the background on which a series of objects and profiles of friends, including Alighiero himself are the main characters: fragmentary tales full of irony, whirls of images offered lightly. Another “treasure” that was found again , the Drum kit is a special “creature” which, as Annemarie Sauzeau relates, he was so fond of it that he never left it behind even on the numerous times he moved to Turin and Rome. He was playful and a little bit of a magician in his videos, a musician and a player, and he remained faithful to the same continuity of spirit throughout his life and work.
Silvia Chessa, June 2011
