VITRIOL

Technical Sheet

Title

Year

2016

Dim

Site specific intervention

Technique

Carved walls and wooden panels

Location

Angelini Pharma S.p.A., Ancona

Featured in

VITRIOL: VIDEO DOCUMENTATION

VITRIOL CATALOGUE_pdf

Artribune_15/07/2016

DOMUS_30/09/2016

Notes

Vitriol is the title of the project that artist Andrea Mastrovito designed for the XVI edition of the Ermanno Casoli Prize together with 100 employees of the Angelini Acraf Spa pharmaceutical company of Ancona.

The Vitriol acronym stands for a Latin phrase that was popular among alchemists, namely Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem, which means “visit the inside of the Earth and you shall find the hidden stone”. Such phrase inspired the artist to make seven engravings on the walls of the Ancona headquarters of the company, where the activities linked to the award took place.

The artist and the working group, which was divided into teams, created the Vitriol series by engraving the walls of seven rooms of the Angelini plant during a seven-day period. Such engravings represented emblematic figures, which came to life through the colours of the pre-existing wall layers, thereby showing the passing of time and achieving some sort of space archaeology. The dust resulting from the engravings was collected and displayed as an integral part of the final piece, as though it were the “soul” of the engraved figures, or their “active principle” – with a close link to Angelini’s productive activity.

Technical Sheet

Vitriol 07 - Entrance to the offices, carving on wall, bricks and ampoules, 150 x 100 x 20 cm

Vitriol 01 - Exterior wall, carving on plaster and brick, 670 x 236 cm

Vitriol 02 - Coffee Room, carving on wall, 280 x 215 cm

Vitriol 02

Vitriol 04 - Canteen, carving on wall, 193 x 244 cm

Vitriol 04, detail

Vitriol 03 - Tachipirina Room, carving on wooden panel, 590 x 257 cm

Vitriol 05 - Stairs, carving on wall, 270 x 200 cm, detail

Vitriol 05, detail

Vitriol 06 - Museum Hall, carving on wall, 125 x 260 cm

Vitriol 06

Angelini employees working on Vitriol 01 alongside the artist's assistants - July 2016

Mastrovito working on Vitriol 05, July 2016

Pharma H.Q. Industrial Operations Director Egiziano Iancinella working at Vitriol 03