Ua fracture that speaks of earthquakes. A ship that crosses the sea and knowledge. A circle that contains risk and transforms it into understanding. They are the elements that compose “Just One”, the new installation by artist Elisabetta Milan iinaugurated at the headquarters of the OGS, the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics of Trieste precisely on the occasion of World Oceans Day. The work puts you in dialogue contemporary art and scientific research and was born from a reflection on the relationship between Earth and Sea, two worlds that are studied every day in the institute.
From coastal waters to oceans
Made of corten, “Just One” takes shape from a material that immediately recalls the Karst and the earth’s crust. The oxidized surface tells of the geological tensions, faults and scars left by earthquakes. A chromatic path develops around this fracture which accompanies the gaze from the coastal waters to the oceans and polar ice.
Elisabetta Milan and her art at the service of the sea
Elisabetta Milan with the general director of the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics of Trieste, the marine biologist Paola Del Negro
Elisabetta Milan presented the work with the general director of the institutethe marine biologist Paola Del Negro, among the most authoritative figures in Italian oceanographic research. «Science and art share the same curiosity about the world» underlined the expert. «Both try to observe, interpret and restore complexity to understand our planet».
At the center of the work appears the Laura Bassi, the OGS icebreaker engaged in scientific missions in the Mediterranean and polar regions. His profile crosses the composition like a research trajectory, symbol of a knowledge that is built by navigating, observing and relating apparently distant phenomena.
Elisabetta Milan and her work with Plasticocene
For Elisabetta Milan, dialogue with the scientific world is nothing new. In fact, for years the Friulian artist has been carrying out research that intertwines artistic languages, environmental dissemination and awareness on sustainability issues. The sea is his main field of investigation.
In 2020 he founded Plasticocene, a project that combines art and science to talk about the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems and promote greater environmental awareness. Through installations, traveling exhibitions, educational courses and workshops, Plasticocene has become a dissemination platform over the years which involves schools, families, researchers and citizens. The project collaborates with scientific and environmental organizations and is inspired by the themes of the UN Decade of Marine Sciences and Objective 14 of the 2030 Agenda dedicated to the protection of the oceans.
«We are ocean» is one of the messages that accompany the Plasticocene project. A concept that summarizes Elisabetta Milan’s vision well: the sea not as a simple landscape, but as a vital system on which our future depends.