Description: Among the 7 sculptures this is perhaps the most complex we have made. From a recycled fir strip we made 8 cubes, subsequently burned (Shou Sugi Ban), brushed and painted black. Each cube was punctured on 3 sides to be able to insert thin brass bars at a later time. The latter were cut to the same size and then painted black. Once dry we connected each cube with the brass bars to form a larger irregular cube. The next step was to cut the string, paint it black and fix it on each side of the cage, leaving only one side free to allow us to insert the sphere obtained from a beech wood later. We used a board made up of several essences, also recycled, to make the base on which to fix the cage. Once the cage and the sphere have been fixed on the base with brass bars (also painted), we closed the cage completely, tying the string on the last façade that was previously uncovered.
Meaning: The cage has always been the symbol of the deprivation of personal freedoms. In this sculpture, in the center and inside the cage, there is the planet. But it is not the Nature of our planet that is deprived of its freedoms, it will always find a way to express itself and to rebel, whether it is in an angry or quiet way. To be in a cage is the man on Earth and the limits that trap us are our own freedoms. It is precisely the latter together with our excesses that have created the cage around us. A black cage just like oil that has given us both freedom and caged. Inside a cage we are limited and now we too are limited in the choices to be made. There are few ways to safeguard the planet. Our abuses and waste oblige us to direct our efforts towards a single path, to fight climate change in every way and free ourselves from the cage that we ourselves have created. This dark cage around the planet also represents the universe around us getting smaller and more oppressive. The Universe of our acting, thinking and living is the creator of the cage and at the same time it is the only means by which it is possible to free ourselves. We act by damaging the planet, we think by forgetting about Nature and we live on excesses and waste. Revolutionizing our actions, thinking and living is the only solution to destroy the cage and free us from the idea of a possible catastrophe.
