He Who Is & Though It Be Night

A search for the absolute is also one of the themes of the installation made up of Colui che sta (He Who Is) and Benché sia notte (Though It Be Night), both from 1991–92, which Bagnoli created specifically for his solo exhibition at the Castello di Rivoli. In the first work, the various rotations of a series of wooden disks create a sculpture whose shadow projects a double human profile. The title is derived from the Vedic figure of Sthanu, the deity who, according to mythology, was transformed into a pillar of fire surrounded by the continuous emanation and disappearance of multiple figures, evocations of those mortal beings that he refused to create. Like a two-headed creature, capable of seeing in opposite directions, the work suggests the possibility of overcoming the dualistic limitations of reason. The second work consists of a loosely woven grid of copper strips, on which are placed small boxwood roots. Like a niche for the other statue, Benché sia notte plots out a space of reference in which the viewer can orient him- or herself, like in a starry vault