Virgilio Villoresi’s Mechanical Fantasy
Italian filmmaker Virgilio Villoresi, best known for his work in advertising, is showing three of his kinetic sculptures at La Turbine.
The Mechanical Fantasy exhibition presents three kinetic sculptures created by Virgilio Villoresi from found objects and things he has acquired at flea markets. By pressing a button to activate these sculptures, visitors will be able to scroll through drawings and photos set in motion like a flipbook.
The 3 sculptures ready to come to life are:
- Faire de son mieux (Do your Best): the story of a drawn character who sets off on an unsuccessful frantic race through a mechanical flipbook to find his profile.
- Padre & Figlio (Father & Son): an autobiographical sculpture whose flipbook depicts a child following his father on the tricycle he gave him. One of the wheels activates the engine that allows the father to walk with his suitcases.
- Fantaisie Mécanique (Mechanical Fantasy): a quick projection of objects on a merry-go-round that creates the illusion of movement. The piece is a reference to childhood and the circus, a place that is exciting and frightening at the same time.
Virgilio Villoresi’s work can also be seen in the Animation in Advertising special programme, Virgilio Villoresi: What if Méliès Had Worked in Advertising?.