Davide Quayola installs algorithmic marble sculptures at Arte Sella

On October 6, 2024, Arte Sella, the contemporary art and architecture park in Val di Sella, Trentino, unveiled "Proserpina #A_S4," a series of four Carrara marble sculptures by Rome-based artist Davide Quayola (b. 1982). The works are algorithmic variations on Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Baroque masterpiece "The Rape of Proserpina" (1621–1622) and are placed near the park's theater in the Malga Costa area. The sculptures remain intentionally unfinished to document the logic and aesthetics of the creative process, with the primary subject being the process itself. They were produced not by human hands but by a robotic arm controlled by an algorithm, a method central to Quayola's practice. Quayola, who creates custom software for audiovisual performances, videos, sculptures, and works on paper, has exhibited at the V&A Museum (London), Park Avenue Armory (New York), National Art Center (Tokyo), and UCCA (Beijing). He also collaborates with ensembles like the London Contemporary Orchestra and Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine. The artist states his work investigates paradigms of old and new, real and artificial, exploring the tension between direct experience and technology-mediated viewpoints. The installation follows an earlier site-specific work "Sabìr" by Velasco Vitali, inaugurated in August 2024. Arte Sella was founded in 1986 and is located in Borgo Valsugana, which was named one of Italy's most beautiful villages in January 2023.