''Corpo d'aria'' ("Body of Air"; plural ''Corpi d'aria'') is an artist's multiple by the Italian artist

Piero Manzoni Piero Manzoni di Chiosca e Poggiolo, better known as Piero Manzoni (July 13, 1933 – February 6, 1963) was an Italian artist best known for his ironic approach to avant-garde art. Often compared to the work of Yves Klein, his own work anticip ...

. Manufactured between October 1959 and March 1960, the pieces are a box, a tripod base, a deflated balloon and a mouthpiece. 45 copies were made and sold at 30,000 lire each. Originally, any buyer could ask Manzoni to inflate the balloon himself, but would be charged an extra

Deutschmark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

for every litre of air expanded. When fully expanded, the balloons measured 80 cm in diameter.

Public presentation

The ''Corpi d'aria'' were first exhibited at the Galleria Azimut, run by Manzoni and his friend, the Italian artist Enrico Castellani, from May 3 to May 9, 1960. Manzoni organised an elaborate photo shoot and a short film to publicise the event. He was to write later in the year that the bodies had sold well. By making a purely transient work, that would deflate before the buyer's eyes, Manzoni was parodying the traditional sculptural emphasis on permanence and mocking the traditional emphasis on the artist's creative force. He was also using modern materials to suggest an aggressively modern aesthetic whilst creating a poetic metaphor for the transience of life itself.

Related works

''Fiato d’artista''

The most famous related work is the ''Fiato d’artista'' (''Artist’s Breath''), involving red, blue or white balloons inflated by Manzoni himself, closed with string and lead, with the name "Piero Manzoni" punched into it, then attached to a wooden base with a plaque on it using

gesso Gesso (; "chalk", from the la, gypsum, from el, γύψος) is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these. It is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates suc ...

. The pieces were made in 1960, and 11 examples are known to have survived, although all are now in an extreme state of decomposure. When exhibited now, the works inevitably assume the aura of a modern

memento mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'maquette A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...

, but emphasises Manzoni's conception of balloons representing freedom and weightlessness.

Influences

Manzoni is known to have been heavily influenced by

Yves Klein Yves Klein (; 28 April 1928 – 6 June 1962) was a French artist and an important figure in post-war European art. He was a leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany. Klein w ...

, who had released 1001 blue balloons on the opening night of his "Proposition: Monochrome" exhibition at

Iris Clert Iris Clert ( el, Ίρις Αθανασιάδη; Iris Athanasiadi; 1917 – 1986) was a Greek-born art gallery owner and curator. She owned the Galerie Iris Clert in Paris from 1955 to 1971. During its tenure, her gallery became an avant-garde hot ...

’s gallery, 1957.

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

would later use balloons in a similar way, but filled with helium rather than suspended in a stream of compressed air. Indeed, his first balloon, made in 1965, corresponded to an unfulfilled project described by Manzoni in a letter as ‘a cluster of pneumatic cylinders, elongated in shape, like steel, which would vibrate in the blowing of the wind.’

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

has used ping pong balls suspended in compressed air, but within the context of floating above a bed of sharp knives or a skeleton. His most lasting influence, however, was on Arte Povera, a group of Italian artists, including

Luciano Fabro Luciano Fabro (November 20, 1936 – June 22, 2007) was an Italian sculptor, conceptual artist and writer associated with the Arte Povera movement. Life Fabro was born in Turin, and he moved to Udine, in the Friuli region after his father's deat ...

and Alighiero e Boetti, who brought everyday materials into their work in a movement analogous to contemporary radical politics. (see

Protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, predominantly characterized by popular rebellions against state militaries and the bureaucracies. In the United States, these protests marked a turning point for the ci ...

).MoMA.org , The Collection , Arte Povera
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References

*''Piero Manzoni Catalog Generale'', vol 1, Celant *''Piero Manzoni Catalogue Raisoné'', Battino & Palazzoli *''Manzoni'', Celant, Electa 2007 *''Piero Manzoni'', Suzanne Cotter, Serpentine Gallery, 1998

Notes

External links

The Piero Manzoni Archive
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303201921/http://www.pieromanzoni.org/EN/index_en.htm , date=2012-03-03
Space Place
1960 sculptures Artists' books Conceptual art Italian art works