VIKTOR TIMOFEEV is a Latvian-born, New York-bred artist who works and lives in London.
I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks in Spoleto, a town located in northern Umbria, Italy. It’s usually mentioned in the same sentence as the Festival dei Due Mondi, an annual cultural event founded by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958 that in its heyday attracted everyone from Buckminster Fuller, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Anna Mahler to Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski and Ezra Pound. It was also the town where Sol LeWitt lived and worked for about 20-plus years; where he found inspiration for some of his later canonic work ("I would like to produce something I would not be ashamed to show Giotto," he once said in the 80s); and executed some of his earliest wall drawings. I’ll spare you the typical FOMO-inducing sunsets on rolling hills, picturesque ruins, and frothy cappuccinos, and I'll share some special things that turned my way.
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I found a lot of faces staring at me from walls, fountains, and doorknobs as I walked around.
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Detail of a 15th century fresco in the nearby town of Montefalco, showing the exorcism of Saint Antonio
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There are lots of ghost lintels and arches in the walls that sometimes make the town feel like an archeology museum turned inside-out.
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There were a lot of trompe l'oeils. Because many of the windows are above eye level, they can seamlessly blend in with the other real ones. One of the local churches replaced its bells with an electronic chime, performing a kind of acoustic trompe l'oeil. The whole thing can turn you slowly into a paranoiac, questioning every surface and sound for authenticity.
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The lighting in the Spoleto Duomo made this trompe l'oeil pretty special––the real shadow and painted shadow end in the same spot.
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The church of San Fortunato near Montefalco has these small altars made entirely of wood but painted in marble textures.
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Some doors
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The local Roman aqueduct
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The Spoletosphere, commissioned personally to Buckminster Fuller, was the first geodesic dome constructed in Europe. Initially, it was cov
I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks in Spoleto, a town located in northern Umbria, Italy. It’s usually mentioned in the same sentence as the Festival dei Due Mondi, an annual cultural event founded by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958 that in its heyday attracted everyone from Buckminster Fuller, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Anna Mahler to Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski and Ezra Pound. It was also the town where Sol LeWitt lived and worked for about 20-plus years; where he found inspiration for some of his later canonic work ("I would like to produce something I would not be ashamed to show Giotto," he once said in the 80s); and executed some of his earliest wall drawings. I’ll spare you the typical FOMO-inducing sunsets on rolling hills, picturesque ruins, and frothy cappuccinos, and I'll share some special things that turned my way.
I found a lot of faces staring at me from walls, fountains, and doorknobs as I walked around.
Detail of a 15th century fresco in the nearby town of Montefalco, showing the exorcism of Saint Antonio
There are lots of ghost lintels and arches in the walls that sometimes make the town feel like an archeology museum turned inside-out.
There were a lot of trompe l'oeils. Because many of the windows are above eye level, they can seamlessly blend in with the other real ones. One of the local churches replaced its bells with an electronic chime, performing a kind of acoustic trompe l'oeil. The whole thing can turn you slowly into a paranoiac, questioning every surface and sound for authenticity.
The lighting in the Spoleto Duomo made this trompe l'oeil pretty special––the real shadow and painted shadow end in the same spot.
The church of San Fortunato near Montefalco has these small altars made entirely of wood but painted in marble textures.
Some doors
The local Roman aqueduct
The Spoletosphere, commissioned personally to Buckminster Fuller, was the first geodesic dome constructed in Europe. Initially, it was cov