Vincenzo Fiore Marrese

Artwork Substitute

Portfolio Entry

Painters utilized minerals to craft colours, while the industry employed minerals in electronic device production.

A transparent dome sits on a red, star-shaped base with the word “Substitute” written on it. Inside the dome, black and blue powder is divided into two sections. The entire setup is placed on a wooden surface.

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“Substitute,” 2023; assembled sculpture, collaborative art; the artwork incorporates soil from a piece by Harris, courtesy of the artist as part of a collaborative creative process; PVC hemisphere, earth borrowed from another artist's work, synthetic pigment, tape, ink; 40×15 centimetres; 15.7×5.9 inches; Adlerhalle, Dragonerareal, Berlin, Germany; “Collectiveness In Space,” in the context of Experimentdays Relaunch, in cooperation with Zusammenstelle and Rathausblock, curatorial program Mayer Pavilion; photo by V.F. Marrese; ©VFMarrese. Click to download HD Image (for press use only). Please credit V.F. Marrese. Contact us for other use or licensing.

Artwork Details

  • Title:
    “Substitute,”
  • Year:
    2023;
  • Medium (Type of Art):
    assembled sculpture, collaborative art;
  • Medium (Materials):
    PVC hemisphere, earth borrowed from another artist's work, synthetic pigment, tape, ink;
  • Dimensions (International):
    40×15 centimetres;
  • Dimensions (British and US):
    15.7×5.9 inches;
  • Venue:
    Adlerhalle, Dragonerareal, Berlin, Germany;
  • Setting:
    “Collectiveness In Space,” in the context of Experimentdays Relaunch, in cooperation with Zusammenstelle and Rathausblock, curatorial program Mayer Pavilion;
Establishing Context

Painters utilized minerals to craft colours, while the industry employed minerals in electronic device production.

Today, the mining of minerals is influential for technology. Yet the mining of these minerals raises relevant social problems.

In this artwork, I have combined coloured pigment and soil. The soil is part of a work by the artist Harris. I asked her to be part of a collaborative act.

The pigment is a chemical pigment designed to replace the mineral cobalt. On the product box, it says "substitute." That's where the title of the artwork comes from.

A transparent sphere protects the ground and the pigment. It is one-half of the earth and has an incomplete outlook on the world.

Indeed, cobalt is one of those minerals that is critical to the technology industry.