Incorporea
Exhibition by Claudia Amatruda
29.09 – 05.10.2024
Opening 28.09.2024 at 6:30 PM
Parsec – Via del Porto 48/CD
Incorporea is the exhibition presented by Claudia Amatruda at the end of her residency at Parsec. The title directly refers to the concept of the “incorporeal,” meaning that which exists beyond the physical body or tangible matter. Philosopher Elizabeth Grosz explores this idea by defining the incorporeal as “the excesses beyond and within corporeality,” those conditions that not only frame but also orient and direct material processes and bodies. In this sense, materiality is a fluid entity, a field of potential and continuous transformation. This concept is tangibly manifested in the exhibited works: a wax sculpture depicting a crutch and a video featuring a river with metallic-looking waters. Both works suggest an exchange of properties between materials and corporeality, overcoming the binary distinction between natural and artificial, organic and inorganic.
The wax sculpture transforms an everyday functional object—usually cold, metallic, and symbolic of strength—into an organic entity, almost skin-like. Wax, typically associated with fragility and transience, suggests a fusion between body and object, human and technological device, recalling the figure of the cyborg described by Donna Haraway in Cyborg Manifesto. The crutch is no longer merely an artificial extension of the human body; it becomes part of the body itself, evoking a notion of hybrid corporeality in which the boundaries between organism and technology dissolve. Conversely, in the video, the river’s water appears metallic, creating a tension between fluidity and solidity. The river, a symbol of life and fluidity, transforms into a cold, mechanical element, destabilizing the expectations tied to its materiality. In this case, metal, associated with rigidity and technology, takes on the characteristics of water, reversing our perception of the interaction between natural and artificial elements.
Grosz offers a valuable interpretive key to understanding the connection between these two works. The incorporeal is not a separate entity from materiality but an “excess” within matter itself, a potential for transformation and becoming. In both the sculpture and the video, materiality is questioned: wax becomes skin, skin becomes technology, water becomes metal, and metal becomes flow.
Another crucial element for understanding the relationship between Amatruda’s works and the artist’s own body could be analyzed through Karen Barad’s concept of intra-action, which suggests that subjects and objects do not exist separately but are co-constituted through their interactions. The sculpture and the video are not isolated entities but parts of a single network of material relations. Amatruda thus evokes an assemblage1, which becomes a key concept here. The exhibition is not intended as a sum of distinct objects but as a dynamic union of vibrant elements, each with its own agency. Every assemblage owes its vitality to the intrinsic quality of the matter that composes it.
Incorporea thus becomes an investigation into the becoming of matter and body, where the distinction between subject and object dissolves. Wax, metal, water, and the body are no longer separate entities but parts of a single assemblage of forces, evoking a corporeality in constant transformation.
29.09 – 05.10.2024
Opening 28.09.2024 at 6:30 PM
Opening Hours
Sunday: 4:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Monday and Tuesday by appointment
Wednesday – Friday: 4:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Special opening on Saturday: 4:30 PM – 10:00 PM
During the special evening opening on Saturday, guided tours will be led by the artist.
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Claudia Amatruda (b. 1995, Foggia) is a visual artist based in Bologna. Her work focuses on the representation of the body through photography and video installations, addressing social issues supported by research into scientific and literary texts. Since 2021, her project When You Hear Hoofbeats Think of Horses, Not Zebras has been exhibited in Italy, Greece, France, the Netherlands, and England. In 2022, she received the Special Mention for the Emerging Photography section of the Francesco Fabbri Award. According to Il Giornale dell’Arte, she is one of the 30 artists under 30 of 2023, and in the same year, she worked as a studio assistant for artist Francesco Jodice. Currently, she is among the finalists for the Luigi Ghirri Award and exhibited her work Good Use of My Bad Health at the 2024 European Photography Festival.
The event is part of the Terrapolis series, organized with the support of the Municipality of Bologna.
- Very important term taken from the thought of Félix Guattari and also addressed by philosopher Jane Bennet. ↩︎