Unfinished worlds: Giuditta Vendrame at Villa Walberta

We are happy to invite you to the opening of Unfinished worlds at Villa Waldberta (Palmenhaus Höhenbergstr. 25, 82340 Feldafing), a solo exhibition by artist-in-residence Giuditta Vendrame.

Unfinished Worlds 

Giuditta Vendrame

March 18-26, 2023

Villa Waldberta – Feldafing

Maps are what we use to orient ourselves, all the time, although nowadays we use digitized versions and “Siri” tells us where to go. We are mainly used to physical and political maps of the world, precious few other views of the globe find a place in our collective imaginaries. In geographical and political maps there are elements that go unnoticed or that we even take for granted. For instance, by focusing on the details of specific places, we can overlook the grids or the complex nature of the map if considered in its entirety. For Vendrame one of these unnoted elements were the thin gray, black, blue lines of parallel and meridians. 

The geographic coordinate system was established by Ptolemy in the second century AD and set the basis for today’s maps. The geographic grid created by the mathematician and astronomer is the coordinate system by which, according to geographer Franco Farinelli, “we domesticated the globe and translated it into space.” For Farinelli, Ptolemy is “the geographer of modernity, the first to describe the earth in spatial terms. The rule of space is that any part is perfectly equivalent to any other, regardless of its nature.” Land and sea are equivalent, therefore maps are not only tools for spatial orientation, but they have been and are tools to control, occupy and colonize space. 

To challenge this modern notion of space, Giuditta Vendrame started to look at maps more in detail and reflect on how the perception of each “map” will differ when we look solely at the intersection points.

In the main room of the Palm House, the viewers encounter a series of site-specific interventions. On your right wall, you find a representation of “Europe”, on the left side “Germany” and on the floor, you can walk around a modulated projection of the earth.  How does it feel? Could you orientate yourself through the grid? How does the abstraction of space affect your perception? 

Cobblestones and nails on the floor connect the earth, the mundane, the surfaces we cross everyday with the sky. The nails resemble mini monuments, like obelisks are pointing upwards, reminding that this ‘set of points’  (geographic grid) derives actually from astronomical observations and calculation. These dots can be seen as stars, constellations, dots through which establish new connections.

By moving forward in the side wings of the exhibition space, Vendrame brings the viewer inside her artistic practice by showing part of her research process. 

On the left you encounter an “extract” of Planisfero’s installation. Planisfero (2020-21), a modular wall piece in glass, suggests motion-like waves in the sea. A world map: cartographic tool for control, is fragmented and scattered. The loss of control offers the space for new imaginaries, in which to immerse in the glass reflection. The modularity of the composition opens up the possibility of diverse reconfiguration and arrangement. 

On the right you find Atlas. The dotted maps can be perceived as Unfinished Worlds but they can actually represent a new opportunity for our imaginary worlds, or imagine the worlds we wish for. Maps, atlases and globes are repurposed by Vendrame, shifting from tools of control to tools for imagination. 

About the artist: 

In her installations, objects, works on paper, videos and performance Giuditta Vendrame deals with the control and prevention of movement across different spatial scales. Through investigations into citizenship and its paradoxes she finds ways to open political spaces through playful and poetic interventions. In her work, social and artificial constructions are challenged by physical geographical elements and natural forces. She deconstructs and constructs worlds to challenge and reshape modern conceptions of nationhood, territory, and borderlands. Her work has been exhibited and presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Walker Art Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, RMIT Gallery Melbourne, OCAT Shenzhen and others. 

giudittavendrame.net // @giudittavendrame 

Giuditta Vendrame will also be part of the group show “Border//lines” at Super+Centrecourt in Munich.
The exhibition will open on Thursday 30th of March at 6 pm. 

Everyone is welcome!

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Vernissage Saturday 18. March at 5 p.m.  

The exhibition will be visible from  Sunday 19th till Sunday 26th of March 2023 at Villa Waldberta (Palmenhaus Höhenbergstr. 25, 82340 Feldafing).

Opening times:

19. March, from 2–6 p.m.
25.–26. March, from 2–6 p.m.
20.–24. March, by appointment only (please write to air-m@muenchen.de)