Castello di Ama

Castello di Ama is one of the most famous wine producers here in Italy. Famous around the world for its luxury wine and its acidity. However, the trip was not focused on the wine, but more on the their private collection of contemporary art by those artists who made a connection between themselves and the beautiful estate.

Castello di Ama is no longer a castle as the name suggests, but it was. You would still identify the outlines of the previous construction from some angles. Owners, a couple, of the place decided to link their winery with art, and as they are great lovers of art themselves, they started inviting various artists over to the estate to enjoy the wine and the scenery. And if the artist feel some emotions during their stays and made a personal connection with the place, they will agree to commissioned pieces in the areas and spaces that the owners would suggest for their works to be situated. Another reason is that one outlook of the estate, over some random hills on the side, was actually a very much used reference point for many renaissance paintings.
I had forgotten to take my camera with me that day so unfortunately I will have to ask for the photos of the place, so once I have them I will post them here asap. However, it is a pity that they might not stand for my perspective of the tour.
First we went into the cellar and saw from afar glows of light reflecting of glass objects attached to the celling in a group. They look almost like wine glasses. But as we got close, they were representations of human organs organized in a very tidy manner. Hearts, gall bladders, stomachs.... This may sound gruesome at first, but it has a very touching story. The artist was a traditional painter from China, who lived in Paris for a very long time. He development a disease at the age of 25 that made sure that he could never be certain how long he was allowed to live. He created the painting in 2000 at the age of 50 something, and died soon after. This piece was not showcased until 2005, before which the owners of Castello di Ama wished to honor the mourning of his family.
There was the wall full of mirrors with square sections cut out to allow access to the extending view of the estate on the other side. The reflections of the garden and yourself compared with the view of endless greens made a strong contrast and unstablizes your point of view. It was mesmerizing. And here we encountered Rex, the "fa niente" dog (the do nothing dog :)) It was obvious that he was of old age, but a very friendly old dog he is.

Then we have the pond by a female spanish artist in which the water empties and fills every 40 mins, constantly, without stop. Movement of the water has to be observed with care to realize which process it is in at that moment. Representation of the womanly process of perceiving.  The bottom of this square shallow pond was carved as layers and layers of leaves. This is one of the two pieces done by female artists here in the estate.

When we entered the lounging area for wine tasting, we found the room covered here and there with sentences, words and picture in black ink. They hid hilarious jokes and depictions of ideas, some drawings even utilized the fact of shadows casted by the lighting. Even the bathroom there could not escape this comedy.
Outside, on the grass space we saw many miniature walls. The mostly easily recognized were the Berlin wall, the Great wall of the China. The others became clear one after the other. The walls that separated nation of nation, race from race.... The title of the piece of work was: I don't want to see my neighbors.
Soon we were led into another cellar, at the entrance there was another. A tree trunk slit out a piece along the length, places by mirrors on both sides. It is meant as the reflections of us being, our inner and our outer, contracts and differences. Once inside, there was the lightest sound of water flowing was audible. Looking through a gridded hole in the ground, things became clear. There was a small fountain below with the statue in pink marble depicting a very very young girl's body kneeling, with no arms and a lotus flower as a head. At the top of the lotus, where the water flows out, it is almost like a male sex organ, expressing the combination of male and female. This piece was done by another female artist at the age of 99, she never visited the estate because of her age but she made a connection with the place through videos shown to her. The creation process was then assisted by her personal assistant.

In yet another cellar, the back wall was decorated with neon lights, the word REVOLUTION in reverse. And if you could manage to imagine it yourself, you will see that yet again four letters reversed created the word LOVE. Then it becomes quite self-explanatory:  to revolutionize, there has to be love to start off, revolution is about love for something and wanting better.

Lastly, we entered a small chapel with a huge red glowing dot in the middle of the ground. We were told not to step close and were asked to touch the dot with our hands.... It gave us all a fright when we felt nothing, yet our visions provided such confident clues that the place was solid. It was actually a half-globe below the ground giving of the light. This is done by an Indian artist, giving suggestions to the third eye and the dot of beauty that Indian women apply to their foreheads. It also suggested blood and sacrifice suitable for the environment of the chapel. By the way, outside, we met "Ninja"cat, it's another story.