Basilica of Siponto. It’s 14 meters high, weighs about 7 tons: Edoardo Tresoldi made it, it’s worth a look
In the 12th century in Siponto – a hamlet of Manfredonia, in Apulia – a Romanesque church was built, the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore di Siponto. Of that church, practically only the foundations remain today, which are close to a more recent medieval church. A few weeks ago, however, Edoardo Tresoldi, a 28-year-old artist, finished the project “Where art reconstructs time” in Siponto. Together with a group of people – average age 25 – Tresoldi has reconstructed the structure of the basilica of Siponto using 4,500 meters of galvanized electro-welded mesh: wire mesh, to be clear. The wire mesh basilica is 14 meters high and weighs about seven tons in all. It is a permanent structure: to realize it took about five months and the project, commissioned by the Ministry of Tourism, cost 900 thousand euros.
Tresoldi’s wire mesh structure is part of the Archaeological Park of Siponto, which has existed for a few weeks and has been realized with a total expenditure of 3.5 million euros. Talking about the project he said: “In the first phase of realization some tests and studies were necessary, research on materials and equipment. The most important part for me is the assembly on site: it is essential to have a great organization so that on-site there is the possibility to modify everything possible, shrinking some parts and enlarging others according to intuitions that are reached while working”. Tresoldi began working in cinema as a scene painter; in 2013 he has instead specialized in the creation of sculptures and wire mesh structures.
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