Landscape is an artifice already in the moment of its beholding, long before it becomes the subject of any representation, W.J.T. Mitchell writes. A network of physical and cultural elements which change and shape the perception of a territory, landscape is a medium of cultural expression which reiterates, over time and geographies, the ideals and values that have been inscribed into it. 

In Italy, during the Renaissance, these reflected the shifts of power and control in society, and the landscape of the inland Veneto region, in particular, has been understood as a plane where to recreate the tropes and the grace of the lost Arcadian age. 

In the three modular storage units presented in the installation are sampled elements collected through a research on the conceptualization of this landscape in a group of canvases and engraved glassworks. Some of the works are developed referencing the work of Palladio, Paolo Veronese and Francesco Colonna which shaped the territory through the idea of villagiatura and the construction of an ideal landscape that became a model echoed throughout the West and that still resonates through architectures of power. The two glassworks – a map the evening-sky light pollution in the region and one of the bio diversity overlayed with the registered villas – that are retrieved from the regional statical geographic database of Veneto, offer instead a different perspective on the land, nevertheless related with the idea of production and economic powers. 

The modular works are made to conceive the shelves as ideal exhibition machines. On them, the works can be rearranged to change the perspectives on research and the relations between the elements collected. Rather than systems of objective information, these archiving furniture can resolve, for how objects are stored in them, in becoming a field for creation of knowledge.

All glass works are made with the support of Vetreria Brunetta. The artist would especially like to thank Alberto Brunetta for his passionate assistance. 

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This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.