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The Fifth Element * Livio de Marchi * Het Vijfde Element
Exhibition 14 June - 20 July 2003


The Fifth Element - wood - is the product of earth, water and air while being at odds with fire, although in terms of perpetual recycling, from germination to decay, fire is nothing more than an accelerated version of one of the phases. Had it not been for wood, man would never have amounted to anything much. Without wood, creation would have ground to a halt at the wobbly mass stage and we would never have got round to manipulation involving fire.

Wood houses a past, from the very first spark of inspiration onwards. Protection is interwoven with force, comfortable warmth with the blight of scorched earth, but also the message, through sound and rhythm, in the endless search for the splendour of music …

It is as if Livio de Marchi has set his sights on solving an enigma of which the world has lost sight and in anticipation, is taking stock of and recreating that which has become so familiar as to make it stand out only when it is transformed into the Fifth Element:

Wood.