Marco Facchetti: Interview with the artist

Marco Facchetti is an Italian artist, born in 1977, who bases his artistic research on a landscape survey that includes every scale from macro to microscopic. In many of his works he wants to escape from the rigidity of the cartographic language, while preserving its formal aspects, to represent the landscape.

When and why did you decide to dedicate yourself to the art world?

“I don’t remember a precise moment when I decided to dedicate myself to the art world. I think art is a form of expression, as there are many others. I think I’ve always been attracted to this kind of language and I made it my own since childhood. I’ve always liked to draw since I was a child. I still try to take some time to draw. I draw what I see, what surrounds me. I do it essentially to get to know things better. Drawing is one of the best ways to know what we observe. Through drawing we devote time to what is in front of us and this time reveals us the essence of things.”

What was the process that led you to become the artist you are?

“My official artistic journey begins at the age of 14, when I started the art school. At 19 I attended the first year of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, but without continuing. I then decided to frequent a garden design course that, although timidly, represented the second recall to the landscape and its forms. The first is identified with the figure of my maternal grandfather who has always educated me in the care and attention to the natural sphere. During the following years I had the opportunity to work as a gardener in different contexts. This experience has done nothing but strengthen the passion and fascination for plants, for the phenomena and the magic that they are able to generate, and the dilated rhythms that characterize their existence.

At 28 I decided to enroll in the University of Genoa, Landscape Architecture. After my master’s degree in Landscape Architecture in England, I worked for a few years in several design studios in France, Morocco and Italy. All this long process of learning and experiences is condenses today in the artistic research that I carry on. It remains a strong interest in the landscape and its multiple forms of expression, as well as the use of maps and cartography as a language of representation.”

Which were your reference artists?

“As far as I’m concerned, the reference figures change depending on the period, what I’m living and the direction I’m heading to. List below a number of people who have represented (or represent) a turning point or a continuous source of inspiration regarding my personal artistic journey.

Andy Goldsworthy-Artist, Giuseppe Penone-Artist, Joan Fontcuberta-Artist, J. G. Ballard-Writer, Jack London-Writer, James Corner-Architect and landscape theorist, Joan Iverson Nassauer-Architect and landscape theorist
Gilles Clément-Architect and landscape theorist, Guido Lonardi-Maternal grandfather, Jeff Logsdon-Architect and landscape theorist, Bruce Chatwin-Writer, Anselm Kiefer-Artist, Gordon Matta-Clark-Artist.”

Why maps as canvas?

“The map is a highly efficient and effective method of communication. There is evidence of representations of a certain territory dating back thousands of years before Christ. We have a fantastic example in Italy with the map of Bedolina in Valcamonica.

In this sense, the map can be interpreted as a tool for understanding the landscape through a series of shared symbols and codes. It is still, but over the centuries the map has also meant control and consequently expression of power. Even today, infinite types of maps are generated depending on what we want to communicate and the target audience we want to reach. Personally, the map means travel, exploration, adventure. As a child I just had to lower my eyes on a map to begin to imagine and fantasize. I don’t normally use maps as canvas.

In the M.A.P.S. series the point of origin are areal views derived from ‘digital flights’ along natural boundaries such as mountain ranges or rivers. In my last work, Between Earth and Sky, the map represents the final result. It’s only after the spots and the marks absorbed by the paper take on a meaning to my eyes, that the map is born as an encoded tool through which elaborate a narrative.”

What is the creative process behind your works and how has it changed over time?

“I think the process is fundamental when considering the work of an artist. As for my personal artistic research, the path that leads to the realization of a piece is just as important as the final goal. And it always starts with listening. Before I take any action, it is essential for me to listen. To be able to tell a proper story well it is necessary to understand it in its details and in its most varied nuances. Working with the landscape to me it seems essential to know the history, the structure, the components and the magic that a particular landscape contains. The final part of my research is the creation of a map that describes some of these characters or that takes inspiration from them to develop an emotional or fantasy narrative.”

What techniques do you use to realize your works?

“I like to consider different techniques in the development of my works. I’m not particularly fond of a particular medium. Usually it comes an intuition from which it comes an idea. During its development the idea takes shape and in parallel is defined a technique through which it is conceivable to communicate the idea as clearly as possible.

Taking into account the aesthetic aspect of the composition, I try to create a map that can reveal the most intrinsic and rooted aspects within a given landscape. In the development of the latest projects I have been confronted with techniques such as watercolor, oil painting, screen printing, collage and photoengraving. Each of these techniques has been contaminated and overlapped with the use of further practices such as movable characters and the use of graphite.”

What do you want to communicate with your works and how would you define them?

“The main goal of my work is to offer an unusual view over the landscape. Any type of landscape. From the idyllic and romantic one represented in postcards to the one we cross and live every day, which sometimes can be perceived as trivial and insignificant. The intermediary tool for achieving this consciousness is slowness. Lowering the pace means giving our senses more time to experience the things that surround us and this naturally leads to a different understanding of the world we live in. I think knowledge and understanding naturally lead to care. Being familiar with a place or a living being, whether it be a man, woman, animal or vegetable, puts us in a state of care and protection towards this entity.

Another concept to which I have been attached to is that of the limit or boundary, understood as a place of separation, distinction, and at the same time a place of encounter and exchange. Permeable border and waterproof border. The mobile and highly dynamic Boundary as it is just along the edges that elements of various kinds give life to continuous relationships and interactions. Physical and tangible boundary. Abstract boundary. In the M.A.P.S. series the limit to explore was considered as a vertical element placed over a horizontal plane, such as a mountain range for example. With Between Earth and Sky the axis of the boundary has been rotated ninety degrees considering the earth’s surface as the limit (encounter) between earth and sky.

What are you currently working on and what are your future projects?

“In September 2020, with the publication of Between Earth and Sky, I concluded a journey that lasted about four years. Since then I have been promoting the book through presentations and exhibitions. It often happens that when I finish a path I take some time to define what will be the next. I also need this time to detach one project from the other, to let go one project in order to be able to completely embrace the next. In these “suspended” moments I end up realizing micro-projects that allow me to facilitate this transition. In the last few months I’ve been elaborating a series of herbariums that contain fantastic plants obtained through the collage of geographical map. The idea is to make a distorted yet credible perception of reality, in order to instill, even for a moment, doubt about the veracity of the representation.

The next project is being developed. I find myself in that particular stage where thoughts and ideas still flutter in the air and are therefore difficult to grasp by giving them a continuity and a logical sense.”

Puoi leggere la versione in italiano qui

You can read the italian version here

References:

Copyright Interview with Marco Facchetti

Artist’s Website

Artist’s Instagram

To buy M.A.P.S and Between earth and sky

Featured Image: M.AP.S.; Moon skin by Marco Facchetti

Special thanks to the artist for his collaboration in this project