GOTIKA
Gotika, Triplice Paesaggio
Studio Nucleo, 2020
By Piergiorgio Robino, Serena Gramaglia & Simone Mussat Sartor
Embroidered linen
Unique piece
Studio Nucleo presented Gotika (2020), exhibited at Contemporary Cluster, Rome,
on December 10th, 2020, as part of the group exhibition Particolare di Paesaggio.
Responding to the expression of “urban fabric,” Studio Nucleo has woven graphic elements
from the Roman cityscape into a linen textile, playing with the stylistic idea of order and
symmetry found in Gothic art. The fabric features a mirrored print of Nucleo’s Emerald Stone Fossil,
an existing work produced in 2017, overlaid with two wreaths of portraits of Roman icons in the
cinematic and political tradition: brothers Sergio and Franco Citti and partisan Paolo Morettini.
The portraits are variations of local street artists’ work, who produce murals that interrupt the urban landscape.
The wreaths, embroidered by Simone Mussat Sartor (Co-founder of Born In Berlin, previously
Mario Merz’s assistant (now artist and designer) has symmetric patterns inspired by symmetry’s integral role in human culture.
The theme of balance has long fascinated philosophers, mathematicians, physicists, artists, designers,
and architects for reasons still discussed today.
From fractals in art, textile, and urban planning, recurring patterns in music and storytelling,
medicine, and computer programming, the human species could be considered fanatic about habits.
Studio Nucleo’s fascination with symmetry came from observing the mirrored patterns in open vein-marble,
which led principal designer Piergiorgio Robino to consider the balance present in various religious traditions.
“This striving for symmetry in Gothic cathedral’s ribbed vault ceilings and rose windows, for example,
remind me of the configuration of symbols in mandalas in religions like Buddhism and Hinduism,” says Robino.
“Symmetry, harmony, and religion in these great traditions go hand in hand, as though this
mathematical perfection represents a kind of sacred order or cosmic ideal.”
The group exhibition is named “Particolare di Paesaggio,” after a series of works
by painter Mario Schifano (1934-1998). It features Studio Nucleo’s contributions alongside artists,
designers, and artisans such as Raffaele Milazzo and Federika Fumarola.
© 2023 Studio Nucleo