In Loreto Aprutino (Pescara), Yona Friedman's installation No man's land extends across more than two hectares of the Abruzzo countryside to convey a precious message.
We are in Abruzzo, specifically in the Contrada Rotacesta of Loreto Aprutino in the Province of Pescara, a place not widely known, certainly not for art. And yet it is here, on two hectares of land donated by Mario Pieroni, that the site-specific installation No man's land has been created, by Yona Friedman and Jean-Baptiste Decavèle. Something vast, unique and carrying a special message. Not to be missed.
Inaugurated on 14 May, it is ready to be seen, visited and understood. No man's land is the largest installation ever created by Yona Friedman, a Franco-Hungarian artist and architect, born in 1923, visionary and original.
His entire body of work has been reappraised by the contemporary art world: he participated in the eleventh Documenta in Kassel and in several editions of the Venice Biennale, and from June his Summer House will be on view at the Serpentine in London.
In No man's land, the artist starts from the observation that the world is already over-built and that architecture must therefore be rethought. The point is not to construct new structures but rather to construct new images.
"The image" that Yona Friedman, together with artist Jean-Baptiste Decavèle, with whom he has been collaborating for several years, designed and built in Loreto Aprutino (Pescara) extends across more than two hectares of countryside and is composed of a large natural tapestry made from a great quantity of white river stones, a structure of 1,000 bamboo canes evoking the artist's museum without walls, and an imaginary dictionary carved into more than 200 walnut trees. Students from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, the Faculty of Architecture in Pescara and local art schools took an active part in its construction: stone by stone, each one contributed to the final tapestry.
No man's land seeks to propose a model of ethical and social change, replicable anywhere, to erase the concept of ownership, to transform private property into a common good, following an eco-sustainable path that returns the place to itself. The negative connotation of no man's land that we so often hear — a lawless territory — takes on a positive meaning here: no man's land is a gift that art makes to everyone.
Being present within this installation could itself be a message. To visit it, no ticket is required; one simply needs to reach the Contrada Rotacesta of Loreto Aprutino in the Province of Pescara, every day from 9am to 8pm. For more information: www.fondazionearia.it, which promotes the area by realising international-level cultural initiatives for sustainable development, following an economically virtuous and socially beneficial approach.