Ch'Emistry
The flow of chemistry
University of Insubria, Como · 2014
The place
In 2014 the University of Insubria in Como asked for a Ch'Art for the hall of its chemistry laboratories. Not a picture to hang: a whole wall, two storeys high, with doors and windows to cross.
The idea
Every Ch'Art is made of tiles, and every tile carries its own process colour code: the native chromatic component, so the work does not forget where it comes from. Here the codes have given way to the symbols of the elements, each with its atomic number. The periodic table enters the work in its exact order and lets the flow bend it, from hydrogen at the top down to the last transuranic elements. Passers-by recognise the shape first, then realise they are reading chemistry.
The project
Twelve printed and shaped aluminium panels, 675 by 735 centimetres overall. Each panel was drawn to the real measurements of the hall: the openings are not cut out of the image, they are part of the composition, designed so the flow goes around them instead of breaking.
Fact sheet
- Client
- University of Insubria, Como
- Year
- 2014
- Material
- Printed and shaped aluminium, 12 panels
- Size
- 675 x 735 cm
The installation
Assembly took place in the finished building, one panel after another, with the scaffold rising along the wall. The fixing screws were left visible, tiny, inside the drawing of the tiles.
Other views
Every Ch'Art work is created around the measurements and the meaning of the place that hosts it.
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