Vitriol is the title of the project that artist Andrea Mastrovito designed for the XVI edition of the Ermanno Casoli Prize together with 100 employees of the Angelini Acraf Spa pharmaceutical company of Ancona.

The Vitriol acronym stands for a Latin phrase that was popular among alchemists, namely Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem, which means “visit the inside of the Earth and you shall find the hidden stone”. Such phrase inspired the artist to make seven engravings on the walls of the Ancona headquarters of the company, where the activities linked to the award took place.

The artist and the working group, which was divided into teams, created the Vitriol series by engraving the walls of seven rooms of the Angelini plant during a seven-day period.  Such engravings represented emblematic figures, which came to life through the colours of the pre-existing wall layers, thereby showing the passing of time and achieving some sort of space archaeology. The dust resulting from the engravings was collected and displayed as an integral part of the final piece, as though it were the “soul” of the engraved figures, or their “active principle” – with a close link to Angelini’s productive activity.

The 100 employees involved in such team building process were lead by business trainer Piero Tucci and actively helped the artist and the curator in the making of Vitriol, which shall be permanently displayed inside the company.  
The initiative is part of the activities of the DCE project (Distretto Culturale Evoluto, Developed Cultural District) of the Marche region entitled “La Valle della creatività”.

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