Gian Maria Tosatti's New Book Explores the Fifth Dimension

Gian Maria Tosatti (born 1980, Rome), the sole artist of the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, has published a book titled "Esperienza e realtà. Teoria e riflessioni sulla quinta dimensione" (Postmedia Books, Milan, 2021). The 320-page essay, divided into five chapters, introduces the concept of a fifth dimension arising from the alteration of the viewer's gaze during the experience of the artwork. Tosatti argues that the artist becomes a stranger to the work, which is no longer a linear translation of an idea but an open text subject to the viewer's intention. The book draws on theoretical sources including Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, John Dewey's inseparability of art and experience, Jerzy Grotowski's poor theater, Andrei Tarkovsky's "Zone," and Umberto Eco's open work. Tosatti uses five concrete examples to analyze his operational process, emphasizing that contemporary art in the third decade of the century will be valued not for its craftsmanship but for its ability to relate to context. The book also references artists Georg Schneider, Mike Nelson, and James Turrell. Marcello Carriero authored the article on Artribune.