“Level Five” by Lara Favaretto
At the intersection of science and the symbolism of color—themes that shape the first two chapters of Bvlgari Kaleidos—stands a site-specific kinetic installation, assembled from existing elements: 14 multicolored car wash brushes, removed from their original context and thus stripped of their initial function.
The title of the work, Level Five, is taken from Chris Marker’s 1997 film, in which the editing of a series of documents and historical images unfolds randomly, suggesting a non-linear approach to history—one that resonates with the peaks, ruptures, and dizzying shifts of time. The film is also a simulation of the Battle of Okinawa, a key episode of the Second World War, and thus draws a parallel between Japan and the US, between West and East, ideally retracing the geographies intercepted by the exhibition.
Rotating on their axes according to a choreography planned by the artist, and alternating between acceleration and deceleration, the brushes oscillate between stillness and motion, appearing as a fusion of vibrant color surfaces. The rhythm, interplay, shifts in speed, and performative quality of the brushes’ movement draw the work away from a sculptural nature and toward a painterly dimension, evoking Barnett Newman’s “zip paintings.”
The programmed, irregular friction of the colored brushes against the iron walls creates heat through abrasion, gradually wearing down the plastic bristles. Meanwhile, the dust and fragments generated by this electrostatic phenomenon settle on the iron surface, forming a halo—like a shadow or ghost. Over time, the bristles erode to the point where they can no longer touch the walls, spinning pointlessly like automatons, caught in a purposeless motion.
From the moment the installation is activated within the exhibition space, it begins to deteriorate, progressively losing its function and meaning. Level Five thus offers a meditation on movement and the transformation of color—central themes that animate the entire exhibition.
