Histoire et destin - L’Hôtel sur la Lune 2011

Editor: Gian Maria Tosatti’s installation, "Histoire et destin - L’Hôtel sur la Lune," from 2011, seems to be constructed from found metal objects, like old oil drums, assembled into a sort of telescope or viewing device. It's perched on a rooftop overlooking what looks like an industrial landscape. What draws my eye is how this makeshift contraption, so grounded in earthly materials, points towards the sky, towards something beyond. What do you make of it? Curator: That upward gaze is key. This assemblage of discarded materials becomes, precisely, a lens. Think of telescopes: traditionally instruments of scientific discovery, imbued with the power to map and classify the cosmos. By using repurposed oil barrels, Tosatti asks us: What vision of the future are we constructing from the detritus of our present? What happens when an industrial object is repurposed for stargazing? Editor: It definitely reframes the idea of progress. Like, is this telescope meant to show us new worlds or reflect the waste of our own? Curator: Exactly. The layering of time is potent here. You have the industrial era’s relics, the hopeful gleam of space exploration, and the sobering reality of environmental impact all colliding. This creates a fascinating tension. Does it invoke for you some cultural memory, this... telescoping into our cultural future? Editor: Now that you mention it, I see something melancholic here. A longing for the future as imagined in the past, before we fully understood the cost. Curator: A beautiful observation. Tosatti masterfully employs familiar symbols – the telescope, the cityscape – to spark introspection about history's trajectory and its resonance within our collective consciousness. I feel more sensitive now about seeing a narrative emerge from unexpected juxtapositions. Editor: Me too. It’s a poignant reminder that even the most ambitious dreams can be grounded in very real, earthly consequences.