S O T I R I A
Simone Lingua for Bvlgari
“Energy, dynamism and renewal: a Made in Italy creation”.
Sotiria is the work created by Simone Lingua exclusively for Bvlgari.
Site specific installation, intended for the central section of the Italian Pavilion, Expo Dubai 2020. With an extension of 150 square meters, it will be suspended from roofing sailors and perfectly usable from the VIP balcony area.
The idea stems from the desire to represent the concept of beauty and the connections it can generate, in line with the theme of the Italian Pavilion “Beauty connects people”.
The word to the artist:
“I started thinking about how to represent the concept of beauty and I immediately realized that it would be impossible to give it a shape that would make it universal. So I chose to identify it in a precious stone, in homage to the identity of the Bvlgari Maison.
However, to fully express its beauty, even the largest and most precious diamond must be able to shine through its own light, generated from within and reverberated outside. This is why I imagined building a structure around the stone, which could enhance its splendor: a mirrored dome, capable of amplifying its shape, intensity and beauty.
I then arranged each element to compose ideal suspended colliers, so that each diamond, from inside the dome, could shine and express itself by multiplying the perception of its reflections.
Another fundamental component of the work is the spy mirror: subtle and magical, an element that, in this particular case, develops two of its multiple potentials. On the one hand, it allows us to observe through a filter – the mirror – the vision of reality, reflecting earthly beauty; on the other hand, through light, it triggers the manifestation of something else, intangible and that transcends the human dimension.
Conceived by focusing on the observer and more particularly the connections between people, it was designed to detect the interaction between visitors through software and to send an impulse that regulates the light intensity inside the work. The light turns on the diamonds, which multiply their reflections inside the domes, triggering a gradual fading of the spy mirrors, thus allowing the final viewer to see beyond the reflection of himself and the surrounding environment, thus discovering true beauty.
