The Garden of Return Trip, part 2

• Manja Maksimovič

Previous Sunday was not as hot yet as it is now, far from it. The wind was blowing and the sky was covered. Just right to stroll among the artefacts in the Garden of No Return. I mean, of Return Trip.

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What makes the scrap art of Rodolfo Lacquaniti as displayed in his Giardino Viaggio di Ritorno in Braccagni in lower Tuscany especially worthwhile is how quickly you could get really spooked by it if you only allowed it to yourself.

But we can’t do that, can’t we, we responsible adults in sensitive society in which everything is right and makes perfect sense, hmmm?

If you saw the first part of my report, you could already see some mutants. Today there will be more.

Once we were past bedtime, story time and rebirth, and reached the Ark as the fitting final exposit in the garden, we were kindly invited to two indoor display rooms.

The first was light and airy and included a trio of figures with Marge Simpsons hair, entitled The Spam Family. “We watch the Simpsons, in my family,” said the artist Rodolfo Lacquaniti who was accompanying us throughout with the detailed commentary.

It did not prepare us for the second room.

Suffice to say that I stopped taking photos. There were classical music, the darkness pierced by tunnels of lights, and an army of mutants in various states of being. You really should have been there. (I did take a few photos later and include one, but for full immersion watch the video below the gallery or better still, visit on a Sunday.)

The project The Garbage Revolution, for which these mutants were created, is seven years old. When I see visitors greeting and kissing in the video and think of us in masks, afraid to touch anything or each other, I know. Again, artistic vision predated reality.

That bed though. The bed was my favourite. I’d spend one night on it, right there in the garden under the open sky, just for the joy of it. I must have been tired by then.

At the end there is the repeat of the starting door, taken by Donna with thanks when I realised that I wish to be in the picture with it to take home with me.

Last time I showed you one whale already, today let’s start with another.

  • Another whale that you can enter.
  • I liked this view.
  • The whale’s tail.
  • People fleeing from The Ant. (Nooo, it just seems this way. It was harmless.)
  • This one is quite spooky indeed. Wait till you see what is inside.
  • Ahh! Rebirth! (Not the official title. I’m improvising.)
  • I liked this circle. It helps with concentration.
  • Then there is this little wagon full of useful things.
  • And here it is, the bed! Only now I see that it comes with the alarm clock. And a variety of dreamcatchers. (Again, improvising.)
  • These are vaguely familiar…
  • More concentration circles.
  • The world’s needs trump the individual needs? (I should have listened to the official explanation more.)
  • This is how it will be: all will mill around the Ark, while I’ll hide and wait for them all to leave.
  • A side view. One kid escaped.
  • A detail. The artist told us that we cannot enter since there is a wasp nest inside. (Imagine the original Ark!)
  • Behind you can see the swimming pool and the indoor exhibition centre where we headed next.
  • “The Spam Family”. This is the official title. It is the artist, his wife and his daughter. And finally…
  • Mutants H202 of the last generation. The Garbage Revolution, 2014.
  • I said, “Please, one photo with this door.” Photo: Donna
  • All empty, the Ark is gone, everything is ready for the next batch.

The artist’s video of the last room with the mutants for the project The Garbage Revolution:

More on the artist’s site here.

The first part of this visit on my blog is here.

This day in my blogging history

34 thoughts on “The Garden of Return Trip, part 2”

  2. Gosh, this is amazing – I’m so glad you shared it with us! And I also do that thing of holding back until everyone else moves on, so I can get a photo without them. But then like you I miss the guide’s explanation of the next thing 😦

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    1. Haha, it seems that we are quite similar in many ways. 😀 Thank you, Sarah. It also must be said that he was speaking in the singalong Italian which I find it a bit hard to follow unless I pay close attention. If I read Italian, I understand more.

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    1. Thank you, for the Bull as well! I’m sure Mr. Rodolfo would be pleased to know that a post from his garden made you mention Picasso. 🙂 He insists that his art is not junk art but rather scrap art. In any case, it is found and I’m glad I found him.

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  10. The whale! Laughed about the comment about wanting to be in the belly. Did you read the news article last week about the diver off the coast of New England last week who suddenly found himself in pitch black with great pressure on his legs. Turns out a whale had him in its mouth. It spit him out. 🙂 He’s doing fine. Fun photos, Manja. An interesting place. –Curt

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  11. I am amazed by the ingenuity and variety of these sculptures and what engineering and creative skills it takes to put them into reality. I also enjoy the idea that they can be the size they are, but if they were small, the size of a purse or a bowling ball or just as big as my hand, they would work as well, they are so nicely designed. I think it must have been much more fun to be able to become part of the art, though, rather than just holding it. Thanks for showing this, it has given me smiles and some inspiration.

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    1. Oh Claudia, thank you very much, it makes me happy to hear this and to feel you get ideas from this artist and his garden. 🙂 You are right, the pieces would work on a smaller scale too. But he really has lots of place there to fill. 😉

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