The leading industrial engine manufacturer company introduces the sculpture Consider yourself as a guest (Cornucopia) by the artist Christian Holstad, an invitation to consider the importance of protecting the oceans and seas of the entire world.
FPT Industrial, brand of the CNH Industrial company and a leader in the industrial engine sector, confirms the great importance that it attaches to sustainability by becoming an official partner of Slow Fish 2021, a biennial cultural event dedicated to all aquatic ecosystems and their inhabitants, scheduled to take place in Genoa from Thursday, July 1 to Sunday, July 4, 2021.
In the framework of Slow Fish, FPT Industrial, which has always been active and had a specific commitment to caring for the sea – exactly due to the importance that marine engine production possesses for the company – will be introducing the sculpture Consider yourself as a guest (Cornucopia) designed by the American artist Christian Holstad (born in 1972 in Anaheim, California) in Piazza De Ferrari, in the heart of the city center.
This work of art, first introduced in 2019 at the Venice Biennale d’Arte and at Artissima in Turin, reproduces a large cornucopia, an ancient symbol of good fortune and abundance, completely made from plastic waste. The artist, whose work stands out for the particular attention that it pays to issues of consumption and its impact on the world, highlights the metaphor of this iconic image, which in this way, acquires an unprecedented negative meaning, that of “excess”. This project poses itself as a consideration of the urgent need to deal with the pollution of the seas of the entire world, literally “bringing to the surface” a problem that is absolutely timely and not leaving it hidden in the depths of the sea.
“A past neighbor had a sign on their door which read ‘Consider yourself a gues’. I walked past it each day for years and it became an unintended mantra”, says Christian Holstad. “Our dependence on plastics is not sustainable. Its effects are swelling into continents in our waters. Consider yourself as a guest (Cornucopia) is a reflection of our impact on the planet and our consumptive roles within the growing plastic mass”.
For the entire duration of Slow Fish, the company will also be present at the Old Port of Genoa with its own stand, within which a marine propeller belonging to its brand is displayed
“As a group that has now been heading the most prestigious international sustainability rankings for ten consecutive years,” states Daniela Ropolo, Head of Sustainable Development Initiatives at CNH Industrial, “we find it natural to support people and organizations that decide to make a difference in the area of environmental protection, making them the center of a virtuous circle of mindsets, lifestyles and consumption behaviors that is constantly expanding just like the circular ripples in water. The Slow Fish partnership forms part of a long-established association with Slow Food, which enables us to support organizations that promote sustainability on the ground, and make it their mission.”
“With our past projects, such as ‘Fishing for Plastic’, which removed three tonnes of plastic from the Adriatic coastlines, we’ve already proven how important the protection of the sea and its natural resources are to us,” states Egle Panzella, Sustainability Manager at FPT Industrial. “Being an Official Partner of Slow Fish is a privilege, and above all an opportunity to make new contacts that share our active commitment, and to give resonance to our sustainability vision. Through this partnership, we become part of an integrated project, in which every partner is actively committed to safeguarding the sea, the cradle of life on our planet, but unfortunately also the place where all the adverse consequences of incorrect behaviors inevitably become painfully clear.”
Christian Holstad was born in Anaheim, California in 1972; he lives and works in New York.
Featuring a unique stance rather than a specific method, Holstad’s work concentrates on ideas about the contemporary world: social classes, culture, sexuality, and society become the subject of his work. His individual exhibitions include the following: New Positions, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York (2017); Christian Holstad, red, yellow, lime, pink, lavender, green, scarlet, lavender, scarlet, green, lavender, The Magazine Sessions 2016, Serpentine Gallery, London (2016); Toothpick, Massimo De Carlo, Milan (2016); The Book of Hours, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York (2013); The World’s Gone Beautiful, Daniel Reich Gallery, New York (2009-10); Christian Holstad. I Confess, Galleria Civica of Modena, Modena (2009); Gaity: Discovering the Lost Art (in Absentia), curated by Beatrix Ruf, Kunsthalle, Zurich (2004); and Innocent Killers, Project Room, MoMA PS1, New York (2004). The collective exhibitions in which he has participated include the following: SI Onsite, Swiss Institute, New York (2018); Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, Hangzhou (2013); Paper, Saatchi Gallery, London (2013); Aquatopia, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham (2013); Graphite, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis (2013); The Air We Breathe, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (2011); Coming After, The Power Plant, Toronto (2011); Compilation IV, Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf (2009); Compass in Hand: Selections from the Judith Rothschild Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2009); and Unmonumental (Inaugural Exhibition), New Museum, New York (2007). His work has also been exhibited in 2007 in the framework of the Biennale de Lyon and in 2004 within the Whitney Biennial in New York.
