MIRACLE
From June 08, 2024
Permanent installation
Chapel of San Rocco, Vicoforte, Italy

From June 8, 2024, Emilio Ferro presents Miracle, a site-specific installation conceived for the Chapel of San Rocco, located along the road that leads from the top of the hill to the Sanctuary of Vicoforte, as part of the project “Landandart - andar per arte” created by the cultural association VIA.

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The artist, who has always been attracted to themes that interweave the profound relationships between human beings and nature, man-made and natural landscapes, light and shadow, sound and silence, on this occasion creates a work that projects the materiality of nature toward mystical transcendence. Ferro starts from the landscape to imagine new trajectories that traverse the architecture of the ancient building and suggest unexplored paths.

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The first element of the installation consists of a suspended metal structure of light, pointed in shape and extending for more than 18 metres, which crosses the chapel's interior space, projecting outwards and pointing the way toward the Sanctuary. In the outdoor space behind the chapel, a large tree supports a long metal line of light extending for more than 6 metres: a generative force that emerges from the ground and, guided gently by the branches, extends toward the Chapel, completing its path in the luminous arrow that symbolically guides today's pilgrim.

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The irregularities of natural lines mingle with sharp geometric forms, creating a dynamic balance between opposing forces. A physical and at the same time mystical experience that Emilio Ferro transfers into his work, where the warmth and evocative power of light are intertwined with the metallic element, whose strength he harnesses to the point of sublimation.

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The artist is inspired by the fresco cycle created by Mattia Bortoloni in the Sanctuary of Vicoforte: the monumental fresco painted beneath the largest elliptical dome in the world, where the masterful use of illusionistic techniques heightens the viewer's desire for transcendence, already inspired by the trompe-l'œil scattered over an area of more than six thousand square metres. An impetus toward spiritual transcendence that, in Ferro's work, is transformed into light, an inherently elusive material, which finds its way from the enclosed space of the Chapel of San Rocco toward the sky.

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A sound intervention created by the artist for the occasion completes the installation: after recording the magnetic fields present in the Chapel of San Rocco and the Sanctuary, as well as the sounds coming from the surrounding landscape, Ferro sampled fragments of these recordings to compose the psychoacoustic soundtrack that embraces his work.

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Chapels such as San Rocco, scattered throughout the Monregalese territory, once formed a sort of map that pilgrims heading to the Sanctuary of Vicoforte used as reference points along their journey. Around the 17th century, thousands of pilgrims faced long and difficult journeys to reach this place of worship, which became famous for its numerous miracles and whose importance was comparable to that of modern sanctuaries such as Lourdes and Medjugorje. The spiritual quest, accompanied by the hope of witnessing a miracle, gave this journey a deep and symbolic significance. Similarly, today the contemporary pilgrim undertakes a journey through nature and art in search of extraordinary experiences, grounding, but also discovery and elevation. A profoundly transformative experience.

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When, in 2022, at the invitation of the patron, the artist visited the Chapel of San Rocco, a completely burned wild cherry tree dominated the atmosphere with its lifeless shadow. However, although the tree seemed destined to remain bare and scarred, during preparations for the installation in 2024, a surprising change occurred: delicate buds emerged on the branches and, just before the work was completed, the tree burst into bloom. This event, in perfect harmony with the artist's creative process, gave birth to Miracle, a testimony to rebirth and transformation.

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Emilio Ferro's Miracle installation is commissioned by the cultural association VIA, founded by Giulia Carbone, Geremia Siboni and Sergio Basso, and thanks to their initiative is part of the “Chiese a Porte Aperte” circuit. Visitors can freely experience the installation by booking a 30-minute visit to the chapel and the installation through a dedicated smartphone app, any day of the week.

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Visitor information

MIRACLE can be visited daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Via S.Rocco 4/2, 12080 Vicoforte CN, Italy