216 Bottles Without Labels Transform Memory into Art at Fondazione Zeri

Flavio Favelli's site-specific installation 'Nuova Mixage Up' is on view at the Fondazione Zeri in Bologna, curated by Roberto Pinto. The work features 216 Italian beverage bottles stripped of their labels, arranged on four wooden shelves. By removing the labels, Favelli strips the bottles of their commercial function, transforming them into aesthetic objects that play with transparency and color. The installation evokes the atmosphere of a grandparents' home, where a lit bar cabinet revealed brightly colored bottles with unique scents. These objects become symbols of an era when alcohol represented luxury, tradition, and transgression. The work moves beyond the private sphere to embrace a collective imagination, with the bottles evoking shared memories and stories. Placed in the Fondazione Zeri's library, the installation enters into dialogue with the books on the shelves: while books embody codified knowledge, the bottles suggest sensory and intuitive knowledge. Both become containers of memory and objects of power that narrate identity. The title references an old gift box from Martini & Rossi, reinterpreted in a contemporary key to stimulate critical and poetic analysis. Favelli's practice is rooted in Italian culture but aims to communicate universally. The installation offers multiple readings: a homage to Italian material culture and a reflection on time and memory. The bottles are not mere relics but tools to interrogate our relationship with history and the present.