Marco Senaldi on the Persistence of the Sublime in Contemporary Art and Cinema

In an editorial for Artribune, Marco Senaldi examines the enduring presence of the sublime in contemporary art, architecture, and cinema. He references Massimo Carboni's 1993 book 'Il sublime è ora' and his 2017 'Il genio è senza opera' to trace the concept's survival. Senaldi highlights Gianni Troilo's 2018 film 'Le ninfee di Monet. Un incantesimo di acqua e luce,' which uses underwater and drone footage to explore Monet's water lilies at the Orangerie in Paris, with narration by Elisa Lasowski covering Monet, Giverny, and Clemenceau. He critiques Mario Martone's 'Capri Revolution' for its anachronistic use of Beuys' 'Capri Battery' and idealization of Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, comparing it to Eija-Liisa Ahtila's installations. Luca Guadagnino's 'Suspiria' is praised for desublimating horror to expose political violence of the 1970s, including the Baader Meinhof group, with Tilda Swinton's character inspired by Pina Bausch. Senaldi questions whether the sublime has become kitsch, citing Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela's Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia, adorned with sculptures by Arne Quinze.