"Gordon Matta-Clark. La dissezione come processo allegorico" (International Writing Contest, New Topics and Forms of American Contemporary Art, 1970-2000. Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina, Florence, June 20-21, 2012)

Trained in architecture and inspired by performance and land art, the American artist Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-78) is best known for his “building-dissections” i.e., sculptural transformations of architecture produced through direct cuts into buildings scheduled for demolitions. Through previously unpublished archival materials, the essay examines Matta-Clark’s deconstructive interventions in the context of the Neo-Avant-Garde movements with particular reference to site-specific, conceptual, performative and minimalist practices. Starting from the study of Food (1971-74) and Reality Properties: Fake Estates (1973), through the analysis of Splitting (1974) and Office Baroque (1976), the text illuminates a far-reaching aspect of his interdisciplinary and impressive work: the creation of neologisms, puns and “word-cuts”.