Los Angeles, CA
Enel Contemporanea, the art sponsorship program of Italian utility
company Enel, recently opened its third installation created by the
American artist Jeffrey Inaba, in Collaboration with Luca Peralta
Studio, Rome, Italy, at Rome's Policlinico Umberto I, the most important
hospital in the Italian capital and one of the largest in Europe. A
multi-functional medical structure which was at the cutting edge when
founded at the end of the 19th century, today it is often the subject of
debate and controversy.
This is being countered by a gradual but significant process of
renovation. The artistic project is focused particularly on the waiting
and transit areas, used every day by large numbers of people. Within the
delicate and complex social context that a hospital represents, the
artist offers different kinds of space where patients, passers-by,
visitors and doctors can enjoy moments of relaxation.
Colors, lights, geometric shapes and various environmentally friendly
elements give the hospital a new, dynamic energy. Through art, waiting
becomes potential energy, transmitting positivity and bringing an
element of comfort to an architectural space normally seen as a
temporary and highly emotional environment.
The solar PV system generates more than the energy needed for the
electricity to run the lights and the monitors and DVD player inside the
sphere. The project uses a sustainable system but it is also
intentionally accessible in form and image (Alice in Wonderland mushroom
meets solar ray chomping PacMan).
Status: Built
Location: Rome, IT