.jpg)
Contemporary art, being inherently a provocative performance, serves as a kind of contrast to Piscina Mirabilis, which has stood on the earth for two millennia, which seems to be eternity relative to one human life. Can contemporary art be just as monumental and static? Or is it temporary and incomprehensible? Maybe contemporary art has its own distinctive path?
If historically Piscina Mirabilis was the end of the Serino aqueduct and its waterway (with a total length of 96 km), now a new museum route starts from here. Starting at ground level, it goes down the stairs in a single stream, winding through the historical orthogonal structure of columns, and as if asking itself: am I obeying certain canons and norms, or, going beyond the usual, looking for new trajectories of development?
The curvilinear upward flow of the path is perceived from different points in a new way and creates the dynamics and uniqueness of the inner space. New perspectives are opening up on objects of contemporary art, not only separately, in relation to each other, but also in relation to the Ruins. Visitors can see the same exhibit from above, from below, and not only in the plane of movement, but also in all directions of three-dimensional space.
The glass platform of the reception area combines a large modern amphitheater staircase and a narrow historical staircase through which an alternative access to the conference area is provided, which occupies a free space formed as a result of a given trajectory of the exhibition flow and exists in parallel with it.
At the same time, ancillary rooms are located under the amphitheater staircase, repeating the profile of a narrow staircase.
Art artefacts (paintings, installations and performances) can either be exhibited in the plane of the exposition stream, or be suspended in the air or located on the water surface at the lower level.
Water reservoirs are placed along the stream going out to the roof, repeating the sections of the reservoir columns and the grid of their location. Inside these reservoirs (water columns) are objects of art and installations illustrating the interaction of art with water and time (processes of oxidation, environmental pollution, cooling and melting, gradual erosion, staining, etc.).
There is a swimming pool on the roof that gathers both museum guests and local residents around itself - there is an alternative exit to it not only through the exposition stream, but also from the city.
Guests of the restaurant, who come from the city, have the opportunity to descend to the lower level via a spiral staircase through one of the holes in the roof and plunge into the atmosphere of ruins and modern art, being among the exposition, but at the same time on an isolated island.
Fragment of the roof - a panoramic platform with multi-level seats, also repeating the grid of the reservoir columns, with access to a bar and a bookshop where themed events and parties can be held.
Thus, at the end of the flow of exposure, the purpose of art is fulfilled: to bring people together.
