MARSHY is a site-specific and environmental artwork conceived by Eugenio Tibaldi, winner of the 20^th edition of the Premio Ermanno Casoli award.

After a period of residency in the Marche region, the artist decided to implement his project at the EMF FIME headquarters, an Elica group company, in Castelfidardo (AN), in the green area between two formerly competing establishments and the Jesina provincial road. MARSHY is a monumental permanent and site-specific installation placed by the artist in a plot of land. A border space that is not useful for production and mobility, yet is extremely evocative, especially considering its its view on Castelfidardo’s old town centre.

MARSHY takes the form of a 12-metre diameter circular body of water, with three walkways indicating three directions in space and referring to as many components, which the artist has identified as being characteristic of the area under examination: nature, history and industry.

Vegetation characteristic of a marshy environment – shrubs, bamboo, flowers – emerges from the water, populated by a colony of 200 birds; all of the above was built using waste from the company’s production and involving for the first time not only the employees of said factories, but the entire Elica world, the production platform of which is spread over seven sites in Italy, Poland, Mexico and China, with over 3,200 workers.

The choice of marshland is not random: usually considered as a mix of land and water, a liminal and complex area, it constitutes an anomaly in the landscape; it is considered of little value, never used for settlement unless first reclaimed, and in fact always ‘discarded’. Yet, marshes have one of the highest rates of biodiversity in the world and are fundamental to evolutionary processes and the survival of the general ecosystem.

With MARSHY, Eugenio Tibaldi intends to add a new layer to his long-standing research on borders by recreating a space inspired by the most marginal of natural environments – a place of suspension in which every definition of what we see and feel is both reassuring and misleading, capable of accommodating a multiplicity of readings; a place where reality is not called into question and can only be understood through perception, as part of the immersive experience of crossing, where messages intersect and overlap, responding to the personal cultural experiences of the audience.

The installation is completed by a sound insert reminiscent of birdsong, which the artist designed with musician Andrea Naspi and performed on an accordion thanks to the contribution of the historic Castelfidardo company Pigini Fisarmoniche. This choice further highlights the very close bond of this work of art with the local area, as reinforced by the inclusion of its inauguration among the main events of the PIF (Premio Internazionale Fisarmonica, International Accordion Award).

Watch the documentary video.

Project supported by Regione Marche – Assessorato Beni e attività culturali.