My Heart is a Void, the Void is a Mirror
I led the installation of Gian Maria Tosatti's Odesa episode through COVID closures, December cold and a tight deadline. Our team carried more than 20 tonnes of materials through marshland by hand.
- My role
- Installation Lead: team leadership, site organization, lamp-post installation, electrical work and lighting control.
Art installation / Odesa, 2020
The installation
An outdoor installation built by hand in winter, with no machinery access.
Delivery constraints
- Less than two weeks to prepare
- Less than two weeks for installation
- COVID-related shop closures
- Cold December conditions at Kuyalnyk
- No vehicle or machinery access to the work site
- Historic borrowed light fixtures had to be returned intact
Completion
Completed in 2020
My work on site
I was responsible for the installation team and the organization of work on site. My scope covered the lamp posts, electrical installation and lighting control. Gian Maria Tosatti created the artwork; I led its physical installation in Odesa.
First-hand accountTwo short windows during COVID
We had less than two weeks for preparation and less than two weeks to carry out the installation. Many shops were closed because of COVID restrictions, which made sourcing materials harder. The team had to organize procurement and site work within those windows while working in the December cold.
First-hand accountMore than 20 tonnes, carried by hand
Vehicles and machinery were not allowed into our work site in the Kuyalnyk recreation area. Every load had to reach the installation by hand through the marsh. In total, our team carried more than 20 tonnes of materials across that ground. Moving the materials was a substantial part of the job before they could even be installed.
First-hand accountKeeping five-metre poles upright
We worked with Italian engineers to develop a support structure that would let the five-metre poles stand in the marshy ground. The installation brought eight illuminated street lamps into this landscape. The structure had to suit the ground and the restrictions on how we could bring materials to the site.
First-hand account and public sourcesThe public record supports the eight-lamp installation; the five-metre poles and support-structure engineering are the installation lead's first-hand account.IZOLYATSIA: project and exhibition detailsProtecting the borrowed 1950s fixtures
The light fixtures came from Kyiv's VDNH exhibition complex and dated from the 1950s. They were valuable, heavily insured pieces that had to be installed, then carefully removed and sent back. Preserving them was part of our responsibility throughout the work, including the return after the exhibition.
First-hand accountOn time, with every fixture intact
We finished the installation on time. All the borrowed fixtures were installed, removed and returned without damage. It was demanding work for the whole team. Gian Maria was pleased that we had made it happen, and we received positive feedback on our work.
First-hand accountItalian Council support
The project was supported by Italian Council (7th edition, 2019), a programme of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity at Italy's then Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism. IZOLYATSIA and The Blank Contemporary Art presented the work.
Public sourcesOrganizers' and cultural-institution records support the project context.IZOLYATSIA: project and exhibition detailsItalian Cultural Institute in Kyiv: Italian Council supportThe film and the record
Director Lorenzo Quagliozzi made a film from the making of the Odesa installation. The Blank describes its origins in the work carried out during the COVID pandemic. I have linked the film about our installation work in Pavel Odesa's Facebook post, titled Episodio di Odessa. The separate YouTube link is a project video, not the full documentary. The schedule, material quantities, engineering collaboration and fixture-handling results above are my first-hand account as installation lead.
First-hand account and public sourcesThe Blank documents Lorenzo Quagliozzi's film. The YouTube link is an Odesa episode video, not the full documentary. The installation lead supplied the Facebook link and identified it as the film about the installation; its full contents and credits have not been independently reviewed here.The Blank: the film with director Lorenzo QuagliozziYouTube: Odesa episode video linked by the Reggio Calabria art academyWatch the installation film on Facebook: Episodio di Odessa (link supplied by the installation lead)Watch the installation film: owner-supplied MP4 hosted on this portfolioScope of responsibility
- Lead the installation team
- Organize work on site
- Oversee installation of the lamp posts
- Oversee electrical work
- Manage lighting control
Evidence
- Public opening: 14 December 2020, documented by the organizersPublic sourcesThe organizer's project record documents the opening date.IZOLYATSIA: project and exhibition details
- Installation completed on time, from my account as installation leadFirst-hand account
- All borrowed light fixtures returned without damage, from my account as installation leadFirst-hand account
Project credits
- Artist
- Gian Maria Tosatti
- Episode
- Odesa, 2020
- Installation lead
- Oleksii Mazur
- Curators
- Kateryna Filyuk and Alessandra Troncone
- Presented by
- IZOLYATSIA and The Blank Contemporary Art
Project documentation
- IZOLYATSIA: project and exhibition details
- Italian Cultural Institute in Kyiv: Italian Council support
- Dumskaya: photographs of the completed installation
- The Blank: the film with director Lorenzo Quagliozzi
- YouTube: Odesa episode video linked by the Reggio Calabria art academy
- Watch the installation film on Facebook: Episodio di Odessa (link supplied by the installation lead)
- Watch the installation film: owner-supplied MP4 hosted on this portfolio
- About the artist: Gian Maria Tosatti's portfolio (PDF, 25 MB)
- About the artist: Columbia University, The Italian Academy (2016-2017 profile)
- About the artist: Museo Madre, Sette Stagioni dello Spirito exhibition
Working vocabulary
Installation management / Manual site logistics / Engineering coordination / Electrical installation / Lighting control / Historic fixture handling
The basis for this case.
Record reviewed: . This describes the published account, not a new check of the project's runtime.
My role, implementation details and unlinked outcomes are first-hand statements. Public sources support only the claims identified alongside them. A project status or screenshot does not independently verify every result.