Riccardo Giacconi
Vita
Riccardo Giacconi has studied fine arts at the University IUAV of Venezia, at UWE in Bristol and at New York University. His work has been exhibited in various institutions, such as ar/ge kunst (Bolzano), MAC (Belfast), WUK Kunsthalle Exnergasse (Vienna), FRAC Champagne-Ardenne (Reims), tranzitdisplay (Prague), MAXXI (Rome), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin). He was artist-in-residence at: Centre international d'art et du paysage (Vassivière, France), lugar a dudas (Cali, Colombia), MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome and La Box (Bourges). In 2016 he was awarded the ArteVisione video production prize, curated by Sky Arte and Careof. He presented his films at several festivals, including the New York Film Festival, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Rome Film Festival, the Torino Film Festival and the FID Marseille International Film Festival, where he won the Grand Prix of the international competition in 2015. In 2007 he co-founded the collective Blauer Hase, with which he curates the periodical publication ‘Paesaggio’ and the ‘Helicotrema’ festival.
Gegenbild
2017 (currently exhibited in the museum)
The characteristic small round window of the mansion house becomes the source of eternal light. A slowly pulsating beam of light shoots towards the sky when the night falls in Hessenburg. When life around the village becomes still, the light goes on and the manor house becomes alive. In contrast to its original purpose of projecting an image (Bild), the light beam in the installation Gegenbild dissolves in the distance.
Mimicking the purpose and the aesthetic quality of the light emitted from lighthouses, it creates a paradox since its light does not serve as a navigational aid in the middle of the North- German farmlands. The function of the light in Gegenbild is purely atmospheric and suggests a parallel geography hiding in the distance.
