




Client: European Cultural Centre - Italy (ECC)
Location: Venice, Italy
Completion date: 2021
Artwork budget: $160,000
Project Team
Computational Design
Jeg Dudley
AKT II, London
Curator
Vittoria Mastrolilli
ECC Italy
Curator
Bianca Bonaldi
ECC Italy
Organization
Lorenzo Scarpa
ECC Italy
Logistics and Installation
Barbara De Zorzi
Interlinea, Venice
Production and Communications
Megan Koza Mitchell
DeWitt Godfrey Studio
Fabrication
Thaddaeus Rowe
DeWitt Godfrey Studio
Fabrication
Kalia Zizi Bell
DeWitt Godfrey Studio
Sponsor
Keith Woods
Central Steel Service, Pelham, AL, USA
Sponsor
Jason Walling
Custom Laser, Lockport, NY, USA
Lead Sponsor
Tracey Hucks, Dean of Faculty
Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, USA
Sponsor
Hanif Kara
AKT II, London
Overview
Sperein, blends the beauty and infinite gesture of mathematics while simultaneously remaining grounded in the natural world and how the natural world comes into physical existence. Created specifically for Time, Space, Existence, a satellite exhibition for the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, organized by the European Cultural Centre (ECC) is composed of packed conical elements, approximately 430cm in diameter and 430cm high, Sperein invites visitors to interact with the structure, their views of the surrounding environment constantly shifting and framed by a complex interplay of overlapping light and shadow, immersing viewers in an interpenetrative world of dynamic form. The title, Sperein, meaning to sow, derives from the root of the Greek word for spore, spora, a reproductive unit capable of giving rise to new individual units without sexual fusion, a self-contained creative force, spontaneously generating new life, generating new forms and knowledge.
Goals
Sperein, created specifically for Time, Space, Existence, a satellite exhibition for the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, organized by the European Cultural Centre (ECC), needed to be of sufficient scale to complement the site in the Giardini della Marinaressa yet not so large as to overwhelm, a visual and physical anchor for the exhibition.