THE TEMPLE, the Birth of the Eidos (1971)
The Temple, by Vincenzo Agnetti (Milan 1926–1981) and Paolo Scheggi (Settignano, Florence, 1940 – Rome, 1971), is a “consecrated” space dedicated to contemplating the essence of the object rather than the real object itself—highlighting the artists’ early interest in the realm of virtuality.
The work even includes a “virtual coin” that seems to anticipate today’s cryptocurrencies. For this and other reasons, The Temple remains an enigmatic and complex piece, difficult to interpret but emotionally powerful.
The project, which remained on paper due to Scheggi’s premature death in 1971, is a work of visionary contemporaneity and represents the sum of Agnetti’s and Scheggi’s reflections.
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Vincenzo Agnetti
Vincenzo Agnetti (Milan, 1926 – Milan, 1981) was a leading figure in conceptual art. In 1959, he associated with Enrico Castellani and Piero Manzoni and published his first “propositional writings” in the magazine Azimuth. After a brief period in Argentina, he returned to Italy in 1967 where he continued his research in art criticism and began his artistic production.
In 1968, he published the novel Obsolete and a self-published novel Thesis. Employing diverse aesthetics, he created fundamental works such as Drugged Machine, The Neg, Books Forgotten by Heart, Axioms, Felts, photographic works, sculptures, photo-graphics, and much more: works capable of transforming words, poetry, discourse, and thought into a visual icon.
Paolo Scheggi
Paolo Scheggi (Settignano, Florence, 1940 – Rome, 1971) was a key figure in the Spatialist neo-avant-garde, active in Milan’s cultural scene since the early 1960s. His Intersurfaces serve as the foundation for a multidisciplinary exploration spanning painting, architecture, fashion, design, poetry, and theater.
After engaging with the concept of environment, from 1969 he began investigating urban performance and conducting anthropological research on mythic-political language, culminating in a final, conceptual, and radical phase where he created inhabitable environments marked by stark, monumental features aimed at a metaphysical dimension.
Developed in collaboration with:
THE TEMPLE
