Pietro Agostoni on Signs, Fire, and Bat Mummies

In an interview with Artribune, Italian artist Pietro Agostoni discusses his practice, from his signature-like marks to works involving fire, hair, and acid. Agostoni describes evolving his personal mark into an abstract sign system, initially inspired by a desire for a distinctive signature like Rockefeller's. He creates these signs with Japanese graphic nibs, vectorizing them analogically. His work 'K_Night' (2019) at Bastione San Maurizio in Turin featured laser-printed tribal designs on wood logs that were burned. He also created 'How We Relate to the Body' (2012) at GAM Milan, a spiderweb made from his own hair on a 19th-century crystal chandelier, intended to be nearly invisible. For his solo show 'OPS' (2018) at Almanac Inn in Turin, he used hair to suspend drops and thorns. Recently, he has been experimenting with acid on copper, creating a 'robust ash' that he shaped into a bat mummy for the group show 'Collagen Shadows' at ADA in Rome, curated by Zoe De Luca. Agostoni also discusses his digital process, such as in 'Pluffy' (2019), shown at 'Panic Room III' in Zurich curated by Harley Hollenstein, where he printed and layered digital files, then physically erased layers with water, mimicking Photoshop's eraser tool. He works with Treti Galaxie, founded by Matteo Mottin and Ramona Ponzini.