“Do we still need the stars?” A trail of contemporary art installations devoted to the Universe, in the woods of Riparbella.
“Living in lit-up cities and immersed in technology, are we still able to look at the immense night sky and be moved by it?”
From this question comes Paesaggi Cosmici : a permanent land art trail conceived by the artist Luca Serasini for the woods of the Giardino Scornabecchi, with soundscapes by Marco Ricci Del Mastro.
Five installations telling the story of the Universe from the phases before the Big Bang to the constellations we know today. A sequential land art trail, funded by the Riparbella wind farm and presented by the Associazione Marco Polo aps through the Accademia Libera Natura e Cultura, with the patronage of the Unione Astrofili Italiani.
“In Riparbella art does not stop at the town walls.
It goes out, walks, breathes. It enters the landscape.”
The trail starts at the first wild boar capture enclosure and winds through the woods along the main path, as far as the second enclosure. Discs standing for the stars, lines linking them, reproductions of seventeenth-century engravings from the most famous star atlases — all built from natural reclaimed materials.
The first work tells of the moment before the Big Bang , a phase of primordial stillness. Stars and lines are suspended above the ground and arranged to form a disc, in the absolute calm that precedes the expansion of the Universe. The installation stands in the first capture enclosure, turned into a symbolic, contemplative space.
The second stage of the cosmic journey: the formation of our galaxy. An expanse of elements crossing the woods along the main path, evoking the flow of the stars. One of the largest works on the trail , at 12 metres in diameter.
The most recognisable constellation in the winter sky. The wooden discs laid out in the woods faithfully reproduce the positions of the stars of Orion, allowing you to literally walk on the constellation and sense the proportion between your own body and the immensity of the cosmos.
A tribute to the animals of the sky: the Great Bear, the Lion, the Swan, the Eagle, the Hare, the Fishes. The constellations are mirrored in the wildlife of the woods that host them — the wild boar, fallow deer, roe deer and birds of the Giardino Scornabecchi. Reproductions of engravings from seventeenth-century star atlases will be in dialogue with the trees.
The last installation closes the trail: the constellation of Draco, one of the oldest and richest in mythology. The symbolic finishing point at the second capture enclosure, where art, mythology and nature meet in a work that is also a meditation on the relationship between the human and the cosmic.
Each installation comes with a QR code that links to the sound compositions of Marco Ricci Del Mastro: 36 minutes of electronic and piano music conceived as meditation, an invitation to suspend the background noise of everyday life.
On site there is a box holding 15 sets of headphones/earphones to connect to your own smartphone, so that the sound setting can be taken in as part of the whole atmosphere of the work. Information panels in two languages accompany visitors along the path.
The experience is designed to be silent and contemplative : the invitation is to walk slowly, to stop, to look up at the woods and imagine yourself within the immensity that the installations evoke.
Since 2013 he has been working on the Progetto Costellazioni , a body of land art installations devoted to the stars that he has created in Italy, England, Morocco and Austria. His works use discs of varying diameter to stand for the stars and lines for the links between them, taking up the engravings of the great seventeenth-century star atlases.
lucaserasini.it →A composer and sound designer, he creates the soundscapes that accompany the installations. His music brings together electronic and piano sonorities in a meditative dimension, designed to encourage a quiet, absorbed visit. A collaboration with Serasini that has been renewed over time in the places of the Progetto Costellazioni.
The main entrance is on the north side of the SR68, about 300 m after the Cecina Nord exit of the Variante Aurelia heading towards Volterra.
The A12 Genova–Rosignano motorway to the exit, then the Variante Aurelia SS1 and the SR68 through the Val di Cecina. A farm access road for the last ~1.2 km.
Cecina station, then a local bus to Montescudaio and Riparbella. From there continue by car or taxi to the Giardino.
The trail is free to visit. Allow at least two hours for your visit. Wear walking boots, especially after rain.
