Francesco Arena
Division of the square (a couple), 2018Bronze, various strings100 × 100 × 3 cm (39 3⁄8 × 39 3⁄8 × 1 3⁄16 inches)
Francesco Arena’s research is centred around ways of thinking about temporality, by revealing irruptions in the course of things that seem to conform to a linear development marked by causes and effects. The historical and the personal constantly overlap in the artist’s work in his attempt to represent historical events based on a factual relationship with himself.
In 'Division of the square (a couple)', a bronze square encloses a set of personal objects belonging to the artist measuring 313 cm in length, the sum of the height of Simone de Beauvoir (160 cm) and Jean Paul Sartre (153 cm).