Gianni Pettena: Paper/Northern Lights

Exhibited for the first time in Milan, the work was originally created in 1971 at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. It consists of long strips of paper suspended from the ceiling that fill the room, inviting the audience to cut their own path with scissors and thus construct a temporary and spontaneous architecture.

In this way, the space itself becomes modifiable: visitors create changing paths and, through their actions, contribute to redefining the meaning of the work. The installation questions traditional conceptions of exhibition space and architecture, challenging the idea of defined and immutable structures. Instead, it proposes an open, transformable, and shared dimension. Within this context, the active role of the public is central; visitors are not mere observers but an integral part of the creative process, helping to continuously shape the spatial configuration and the significance of the experience.