CABRINI by Simona Da Pozzo

“Hic et Nunc | Cabrini” blackgel pen drawing on paper 450gr, Simona Da Pozzo, Milan 2018

The tetrahedron points its light
downwards. This pure geometric volume, drawn with clear lines,
indicates a point between the columns of the central arch that
separates Piazza Duca d’Aosta from the portico of the Galleria delle
Carrozze of Milan’s Central Station.

The enormous tetrahedron wedges itself
into the façade, offering itself as a two-dimensional vision: a
triangle indicating the central access to the station, placed in such
a way as to exasperate the symmetries of the building.

Its three-dimensionality is lost in the
arc, letting itself be caught only by the passer-by who obeys the
indicative diktat and passes into the point highlighted by the
luminous geometry.

The monument marks the entrance or exit
of the station, depending on the points of view. It is a monument
dedicated to migrants. A good luck charm. An ex voto? A memorial
stone? A warning?

Its vocation, despite the statement
that saw it erected, is ambiguous.

It doesn’t seem like an amulet aimed at
those who would need to be protected. His best point of observation
is, in fact, that which he has as he approaches from afar, preferably
from the Piazza della Repubblica.

The tetrahedron, monumental if seen up
close, becomes instead a graphic sign, an architectural complement to
the powerful structure of the station, if seen from afar. The
approach is revealed in all its icy rendering vision.

With the latest renovations and
adaptations of Piazza Duca d’Aosta a strange visual nonsense is
created: the place indicated, pointed, put with so much energy in
relief by the “arrow dimension” of this monument, has been
completely packed with functional elements to access the subway. An
elevator, a skylight and an event stand seem to want to hide the
centre of attention of this luminous installation.

As you wander under the installation,
you can quickly see what the tetrahedron is hiding and revealing
today. Military vans, police cars, men waiting (maybe a job or that
time simply passes without damage).

Odours, music from elsewhere, journeys
of hope and a sense of control.

To reread this monument as a work
dedicated to migrants, one should reconceptualize it and think of it
as a performative work composed of the whole of the luminous object
and the people who let themselves be guided every day and every night
by its vector.