W.O.G.U

In April 1983, Pennsylvania hosted the fourth, highly debated WOGU—literally Workshop On Grand Unification—conference on contemporary physics. The questions raised there regarding the fundamental problems separating quantum mechanics from the theory of relativity remain open and unresolved to this day. On that occasion, the promising theoretical physicist Edward Witten, one of the most brilliant researchers at Princeton University, highlighted the weaknesses behind previous attempts at a grand theoretical unification—a unification capable of overcoming the split at the very core of understanding the first moments of the universe’s life. He proposed a revolutionary point of view: to use gravity, first and foremost, as the invisible glue between the two concepts, as it is the only element capable, from both a mathematical and physical standpoint, of detaching itself from the fabric of space and interacting with multiple spaces.

The exhibition expands the duration of that conference, starting from the premises that emerged on that occasion and translating them into an artistic dimension—one freed from experimental verification but deeply tied to art history (specifically to Giotto di Bondone, Paolo Veronese, and Kazimir Malevich). By viewing the visual art experience as a workshop of unification, Luca Pozzi’s work demonstrates how gravity is the primary element of “information sharing” between seemingly non-communicating logical cores, and how a dimensional upgrade is highly desirable.

The works presented here are thus understood as key nodes for developing a research-based discourse (Supersymmetric Partner, Background Inside Platform, Tunnel Effect through Malevič Influence, 3D detail of “Il Dono del Mantello”). They explicitly lay out the premises of an exhibition that aims not to be a mere display, but rather a moment of mutual exchange between the potential facts of our experience and physical events belonging to an overarching, unifying interpretative dimension—which art proves to be.