Superfetazione a camme, 2003, Umberto Cavenago

Superfetazione a camme, 2003

Steel, wood, electric motor and acrylic
360 × 560 × 100 cm

Architectural Elements

The site-specific installation for the Galleria Fumagalli in Bergamo is a system composed of two elements, one moving and one static, juxtaposed together. They are real architectural elements that in the centre of the gallery connect the floor to the ceiling like a support structure for the building.

The movement of the cam

Seemingly like a supporting pillar of the building, the moving element has an eccentrically shaped base typical of a rotating mechanical organ: the cam.
The slow rotation on its central axis changes the distance between the two elements and like a diaphragm opens and closes the space between them modulating the flow of light in the exhibition environment.

The painting

The white cam like walls of the exhibition space enter into dialogue with the static element: the large wall next to it on which a cadmium yellow wall drawing characterises the entire system.
The painting modifies the colour temperature of both the natural light coming from the glass windows on the gallery's street level and the artificial light generated by the projectors directed on itself.

The distribution of colour

In addition to destabilising the architectural structure of the exhibition space, the work's movement gives back a constantly changing yellow glow that slowly invades the entire space before fading away marked by the rotation of the cam.

The cam - pillar

The cam is a shaped mechanical organ, a mechanism for transmitting motion by contact between two elements. The typical application of the cam is, in the timing system of internal combustion engines, to control intake and exhaust valves.

The abutment is the vertical structural element used with a supporting function that transfers the load of the superstructure to the underlying structures designed to receive it.

Site-specific installation for Stefano Fumagalli Gallery, Bergamo