Highlights/Visions: Interactive Works at MAXXI Rome

The MAXXI museum in Rome presents 'Highlights/Visions', a group exhibition featuring six artists whose works explore different conceptions of reality through interactivity and unconventional use of everyday objects. Luca Vitone's birch wood parallelepipeds, each laser-cut with the profile of an Italian region, invite visitors to listen to regional folk music by placing their ear on the blocks. Franz West's steel rod sofas offer a dual perspective: as observed objects and as seating that makes the viewer part of the artwork. Chen Zhen transforms two chairs into drums with skin seats, encouraging visitors to beat them to release inner energy, reflecting his personal battle with illness. Michelangelo Pistoletto's 'Quadro di fili elettrici' presents a cascade of light bulbs resting on the floor, destabilizing expectations. Paolo Soleri's drawings from the 'Space for Peace' cycle envision asteroids reshaped into human settlements. Sou Fujimoto's 'Energy Forest' is a model of a 21st-century fuel station designed as a tree, where natural elements coexist with people, animals, and vehicles, challenging the notion of efficiency. The exhibition runs until June 5, 2016.