Alvaro Urbano's 'I' at Mole Antonelliana: One Viewer, One Day

On November 5, 2016, the Mole Antonelliana in Turin hosted a singular exhibition by Alvaro Urbano, titled 'I', organized by the young gallery Treti Galaxie. The show was accessible to only one randomly selected visitor, chosen from forty pre-registered attendees via a golden ticket hidden in a chocolate bar, echoing Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. The exhibition was installed above the public elevator level, reachable only by a select group including the artist, curator, photographer, security, and a half-dozen journalists. The title 'I' references both the English first-person singular and the Roman numeral 1, but also the last letter of a cryptogram written in ancient Icelandic runes from Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Center of the Earth', discovered by Professor Otto Lidenbrock. Urbano's project 'My Boy, with Such Boots we may Hope to Travel Far' transforms the cryptogram's letters into sculptural groups placed worldwide using local materials. The first fifteen letters are permanently installed between Merano and Tyrol; at the Mole, all letters were temporarily displayed. The exhibition was curated by Matteo Mottin of Treti Galaxie, in collaboration with the Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino. Photographs by Delfino Sisto Legnani document the event. This micro-experience occurred during Artissima week in Turin, blending major events with intimate encounters.