| Masbedo are Nicolò Massazza (1973, Milan,
Italy) and Jacopo Bedogni (1970, Sarzana -La Spezia-,
Italy). They live and work in Milan (Italy). Masbedo started their artistic collaboration in 1999 with the common intention to take advantage of the latest technologies used in fine arts in order to structure their artistic research on the mixing of different media such as photography, video, theater and music. At the beginning of 2002 they have closely collaborated with the French writer Michel Houellebecq on an exhibition project inspired by his poetry book titled “Le sens de la lutte”. On this occasion photographs and a video installation had been exhibited first in Rome and afterwards in Milan. During the same year a new project had been started: a big audio-video installation titled 11.22.03 produced by LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea. This time the two artists together with Michel Houellebecq have adapted an original dialogue taken from Rester Vivant, an essay published by the author himself in 1997 (Éditions Flammarion, France). The project gets its title from the entire length of the interactive installation. Basically the whole project is structured on a dialogue between two faces: man and woman (the masculine and feminine sides of the same person) who confess themselves as if naked in front of a mirror. Together with the video projections the installation includes an original soundtrack defined by the composers themselves as a technological Requiem mixing classical choruses and synthetic sounds; three white overalls hanged on a wall inside a dark room, on the overalls projections of caressing hands, bacteria and a digital snowfall are performed. The text, played by important theatre actors such as Ramon Tarés (Fura dels Baus, main actor in OBS) and Patrizia Zappa Mulas, has intentionally been translated into Spanish as far as this language is generally considered more violent and full of passion than any other European language. 11.22.03 is about the importance of the structure in a human body which has made its choice: to survive as a living suicide on the bounderies of life. 11.22.03 concerns indifference, disease, lack of love, death; about being base people to be true and about the quest for truth. Masbedo and LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea first presented this installation on the occasion of ARCO 2003 (Madrid Contemporary Art Fair) where it gained a great success among the public and great attention of the press. Immediately after the same installation had been exhibited in Trieste on the occasion of Masbedo’s first solo show at LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea. In the meanwhile a video documentary, collecting and illustrating the different steps needed to create 11.22.03 and titled 11.22.03: The Backstage , had been produced. The idea of this artistic documentary was born after the production of the video installation 11.22.03. Watching again all that was shot of the backstage, the first audio sensation was to have in front of us something extremely sincere, the recording of intense moments, of fears and of important creative instants. We confess from the very beginning that here a real direction work is non existent, specially because no one of us would have thought that from all of this, story could be produced, therefore this backstage should be watched like a digital eye which has followed step by step the creation of an installed project, like 11.22.03 is. During the editing we purposely decided to maintain that dirty and emotional sensation you may notice during the creative act, we haven’t cancelled any noises or dirty audio, we wanted to eliminate the director’s intention and give as much space as possible to these gathering moments. So this documentary does not have any actors, but only people who spontaneously discuss about the project, starting from the text elaboration in Paris with Michel Houellebecq, to the most important moments with Ramon Tarés and Patrizia Zappa Mulas, to the music recording in the Passion Church in Milano. Obviously this backstage was edited not to become an independent product, but as a second step to the video-installation 11.22.03, maintaining the same "visual taste" all throughout. 11.22.03: The Backstage had then been selected to compete in the video section of the last edition of Locarno Film Festival where it was runner-up in the best video award. The video-installation 10 Insects to Feed (2006) reflects the desire to talk about the dominion of fear in the western society through a filmic process. Like all Masbedo’s videos, 10 Insects to Feed reveals a sharp existentialist feature. In particular in this work together with the aesthetic choice of using a 35 millimetres film with extreme colours (from acid colours to the nearly total absence of colour) an extreme cruelty is added.The work gets its name from the 10 insects that feed themselves with corpses and that we all will nourish before being transformed only in memories and bones. 10 Insect to Feed won a special mention by the critics at the Alpe Adria Film Festival 2007. The video/audio-installation Il Mondo non è un Panorama (2005) is the natural evolution of the last novel by Houellebecq La Possibilité d’une ìle. Maria23, clone of Maria1, is there, in a post-nuclear world where the Neo- Humans are living with no emotions; no laugh and crying, no humor. Like them she can only communicate in a virtual way and suffers for the lack of contact and desire. Il Mondo non è un Panorama has been showned at the group exhibition TIMER at the Nuova Triennale Bovisa in Milan (May/June 2007). |
| MASBEDO - Selected Group Exhibitions | |
2012 |
Il fuoco della Natura/ The Flash of Nature, Salone degli Incanti -Ex Pescheria, Trieste (Italy) |
| La pelle che abito, Galleria Pack , Milano (Italy) | |
| About Caravaggio, Scuderie Aldobrandini, Frascati (Roma) (Italy) | |
2011 |
Arte Fiera, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Bologna (Italy) |
| Crossing Europe Festival, Ok Center of Contemporary Art, Linz (Austria) | |
| European Media Art Festival, Art Hall / Kunsthall Dominikanerkirche, Osnabruk (Germany) | |
2010 |
In-difesa. , Fondazione 107, Torino (Italy) |
| Terzo rinascimento, Galleria nazionale - Palazzo ducale, Urbino (Italy) | |
| Arte Fiera, LipanjePuntin, Marco Noire, Bologna (Italy) | |
| Passion is the difference, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Trieste (Italy) | |
| Draft. Performing Videoart & Music, Palazzo Re Enzo, Bologna (Italy) | |
| Still in Motion - The 10th Anniversary, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Roma (Italy) | |
| Il MAN per il Louis Vuitton Trophy, Ex reparto elettrico, La Maddalena (Italy) | |
| Au pair. Coppie di fatto nell'arte contemporanea, Fondazione Malvinaz Menegaz, Castelbasso (Italy) | |
2009 |
InVideo - Senza meta. No Destination, Spazio Oberdan - Cineteca, Milano (Italy) |
| Draft. Performing Videoart & Music, MAMBO, Bologna (Italy) | |
| Collaudi, Pad. Italia - 53. Biennale di Venezia, Venezia (Italy) | |
| Melting Cinema, Xister, Roma (Italy) | |
| Art Verona, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea , Verona (Italy) | |
| Glima. Cutting the Edge section, Miami International Film Festival, Miami, Florida (Usa) | |
| Teatri possibili, Palazzo Ferrero, Biella (Italy) | |
| Premio Terna 02, Tempiuo di Adriano, Roma (Italy) | |
2008 |
Arte Fiera, Galleria Pack, Bologna (Italy) |
| Shapes Of Time, Biennale di Alessandria, Alessandria (Italy) | |
| Art39 Basel, Galleria Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Basel (Switzerland) | |
| The road to contemporary art, Terme di Diocleziano, Galleria Pack, Roma (Italy) | |
2007 |
Sin cuerpo, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Roma (Italy) |
| Collezionami, Città della cultura, Bari (Italy) | |
| Il velo, Il filatoio, Caraglio (Italy) | |
| Pav 2007 Inside-Outside, Museo Pav, Berchidda, Sassari (Italy) | |
| Giunglavideo 2007, Villa Toppo Florio, Buttrio, Udine (Italy) | |
| Melting Cinema, artsinergy, Roma (Italy) | |
| Essi vivono, Galleria Guidi&Schoen, Genova (Italy) | |
| Timer. Intimacy, Triennale Bovisa, Milano (Italy) | |
| Nessuna paura: Arte dell'Italia dopo il 2000, Centro per l'Arte Contemp. Luigi Pecci, Prato (Italy) | |
2006 |
Collectors 1 - Collezione La Gaia, CESAC Filatoio di Caraglio, Caraglio, Cuneo (Italy) |
| Art Basel, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Basel (Switzerland) | |
| Asociaciones debidas, CAAM Center Atlantic of Modern Art, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) | |
| Start@Hangar Bicocca, Hangar Bicocca, Milano (Italy) | |
| Allarmi: il cambio della guardia, Caserma De Cristoforis, Como (Italy) | |
| Catodica, Teatro Miela - LipanjePuntin, Trieste (Italy) | |
| INVIDEO, Mostra internazionale di video e cinema, Milano (Italy) | |
| Cruel Photo, Paggeria Arte, Sassuolo (Italy) | |
| DA2 Video Collection, Istituto Cervantes, Peking (China) | |
| In competition, Alpe Adria International Film Festival, Trieste (Italy) | |
| Biennale delle arti visive - Premio del golfo, CAMEC centro arte moderna e contemporane, La Spezia (Italy) | |
2005 |
MACRO: nuove acquisizioni, MACRO, Roma (Italy) |
| Entr'acte 2, Casa Pinot Gallizio, Alba (Italy) | |
| Universi audiovisuali. Incontro, MACRO, Roma (Italy) | |
| Galleria in galleria, Stazione della Metro Porta Venezia, Milano (Italy) | |
| Arco, Galleria Pack and Galería Pilar Parra, Madrid (Spain) | |
| Barrocos y Neobarrocos. El infierno de lo bello, DA2 Domus Artium, Salamanca (Spain) | |
| ManifesTo, Torino (Italy) | |
| Galleria in Galleria, Milano (Italy) | |
| La casa encendida, Video mix, Madrid (Spain) | |
| In Progress, 58 Festival Internazionale del Film, Locarno (Switzerland) | |
| Videopolis Film Festival, Padova (Italy) | |
| Art Basel, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Basel (Switzerland) | |
2004 |
MEM Música ex-machina, Festival de música y artes electrónicas, Bilbao (Spain) |
| Corpo sociale, Galleria Pack, Milano (Italy) | |
| MiArt, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Milano (Italy) | |
| Arco, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Madrid (Spain) | |
| Arte Fiera, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Bologna (Italy) | |
| Loop Video Art Fair, Galleria Pack, Barcelona (Spain) | |
| Volume uno: Dinamiche Evolutive, Galleria Pack, Milano (Italy) | |
| Legami. La visione continua, Fabbrica del vapore, Milano (Italy) | |
| Artissima, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Torino (Italy) | |
| Galería Pilar Parra, Madrid (Spain) | |
| Per Amore, Galleria Civica Montevergini, Siracusa (Italy) | |
| 57° International Film Festival, Locarno (Switzerland) | |
2003 |
Corpo sociale, Galleria Pack, Milano (Italy) |
| Arte Fiera, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Bologna (Italy) | |
| Flesh for Fantasy, Ex Macelli di Prato, Prato (Italy) | |
| Gli Altri, gas artgallery, Torino (Italy) | |
| MiArt, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Milano (Italy) | |
2002 |
Artissima, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Torino (Italy) |
| Il cuore, Fondazione Mazzotta, Milano (Italy) | |
| Sogno e Follia nella fotografia contemporanea, Le bureau des esprits, Milano (Italy) | |
2001 |
Interiors, ISAD, Milano (Italy) |
| Erotica mente, Varese (Italy) | |
| Requiem, Lugano (Switzerland) | |
2000 |
Solitude, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, London (England) |
| Solitude, Casa delle Letterature, Roma (Italy) | |
1999 |
MiArt, Fabbrica Eos, Milano (Italy) |
| MASBEDO - Selected Solo Exhibitions | |
2012 |
Orgia #5 (performance), Centro per arte contemporanea L.Pecci, Prato (Italy) |
2011 |
Masbedo / Julian Rosefeldt, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Torino (Italy) |
| Expanded Video, Maxxi Museo , Roma (Italy) | |
| C'est la vie pas le paradis (Video Performance), Maxxi Museo , Roma (Italy) | |
| Art Basel Unlimited, Marco Noire Contemporary Art Gallery, Basel (Switzerland) | |
| Street View, Galleria Lorcan O'Neill, Roma (Italy) | |
| Tableau Vivant, Museo de las Ferias de Medina del Campo, Medina (Spain) | |
2010 |
Masbedo. Schegge d'incanto, Villa Giulia - CRAA, Verbania (Italy) |
| Aquaticus, Piazzale San Pietro, Portovenere (Italy) | |
| Masbedo, Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw (Poland) | |
| Teorema dell'incompletezza, GAM, Torino (Italy) | |
| Masbedo / Vedovamazzei, La Marrana arteambientale, Ameglia, La Spezia (Italy) | |
2009 |
Teorema di incompletezza, Art of the World - Open Care, Milano (Italy) |
| M3 Masbedo Marlene Kunz Maroccolo, Spazio Santa Giulia, Torino (Italy) | |
2008 |
L'autopsia del Tralalà, Galleria Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Torino (Italy) |
2007 |
MiArt, Galleria Pack, Milano (Italy) |
| Una costante perdirta di magia, Galleria Pack, Milano (Italy) | |
| Masbedo - Houellebecq, CAMA Centro de arte moderno de Almería, Almería (Spain) | |
| CAIRN, Centre d'Art Contemporaine, Digne (France) | |
| Masbedo: el video e la video installacion...., Reales Atarazanas, Sevilla (Spain) | |
2006 |
II Festival de las Artes de Castilla y León, Da2 Domus Artium, Salamanca (Spain) |
| Galleria Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Torino (Italy) | |
| Notte 266, Galería Pilar Parra, Madrid (Spain) | |
| Masbedo Houellebecq, CCCB Centro de cultura contemporanea, Barcelona (Spain) | |
| Galleria Pack, Milano (Italy) | |
2005 |
Notte 266 - Pitti Immagine, Rondò di Bacco, Palazzo Pitti, Firenze (Italy) |
| Art Brussels, Marco Noire Contemporary Art, Brussels (Belgium) | |
| FIAC, Grand Palais, Paris (France) | |
2004 |
Galería Pilar Parra, Madrid (Spain) |
| Nina, MACRO, Roma (Italy) | |
| Domus Artium 2, Salamanca (Spain) | |
2003 |
11.22.03, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Trieste (Italy) |
| 11.22.03, 56° International Film Festival, Locarno (Switzerland) | |
| 11.22.03: The Backstage, 56° International Film Festival, Locarno (Switzerland) | |
| 11.22.03, SAS Studio Albanese, Vicenza (Italy) | |
| Arco - 11.22.03, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Madrid (Spain) | |
2002 |
Il senso della lotta, Palazzo delle Stelline, Milano (Italy) |
| Il senso della lotta, Palazzo dell'Orologio, Roma (Italy) | |
2001 |
The Last Supper, Fabbrica Eos, Milano (Italy) |
2000 |
L'intenzione di amare, Spazio San Carpoforo, Milano (Italy) |
1999 |
La ragione trasparente, Comune di Aosta, Aosta (Italy) |