Casa degli Artisti

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Via Tommaso da Cazzaniga, Corso Garibaldi 89/A
20121 Milan, Italy

MON CLOSED
TUE-SAT 12:30-7:30 P.M.
SUN 12:30-5:30 P.M.

ARTIST:
Manuel Scano Larrazàbal

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Manuel Scano Larrazàbal answers questions from.
Irina Zucca Alessandrelli, curator of the Collezione Ramo.
Give a definition of what drawing is to you.

For me, drawing has always been the most natural and spontaneous way of thinking. Drawing allows me to capture a moment, a mark that is unique and unrepeatable. At first, I used my body to create these marks; then I started using machines. These helped me take a certain physical and emotional distance from the signs themselves, generating traces that belong neither to me nor to the machine, but lie somewhere between chance and intention.

The machines also allow me to superimpose marks over time; each drawing is composed of these traces collected over a period of time, creating a kind of messy archive of the passage of time.

Although in themselves the signs seem similar, each has its own uniqueness, due to variables that cannot be entirely controlled or replicated. I find it poetic that each moment is filled with microscopic, unrepeatable moments, and the machines I build, especially the drawing machines, always remind me that despite the apparent repetition, each sign and each gesture is a unique event.

What creative techniques and processes do you use when working on paper?

My working process is based on dealing with the sense of amused inadequacy I feel when faced with not knowing what exactly will happen when I start working on a new design. Each time is an opportunity to discover something.

In 2015, I began creating a series of works that explore the behavior of water and color on paper. For this series, I used water, ink, and macerated paper to absorb and move the color onto the sheets on the ground, creating bogs that, as they dry, gradually reveal the validity or otherwise of the experiment. I approach this process as a child would approach playing with puddles, not knowing exactly what he is doing, but putting his whole self into it, not worrying about the outcome. This process for me is like a game, and I think the very essence of playfulness is being open to whatever may happen.