To cast is to confuse

Abstract

The paper deals with four major issues. The first one reflects on the parallel between the production of bronze works and the printing techniques (woodcut, chalcography, lithography etc.), i.e., uniqueness and authenticity of the work, the need to multiply specimens, market pressures, the cultural environment etc. The second issue analyses how Italian historical foundries, which were intended for the production of street furniture, sacred art and propaganda statuary of the new Kingdom, gradually adapted to cope with changing customs, only to cease their activities, leaving a vacuum difficult to fill in the urban fabric. The third issue is a reflection on the Giovanni and Angelo Nicci foundry, which operated in Rome from the early 20th century to the 1980s. Nicci, first at San Michele, then at Mandrione, produced, among other things, bronze reproductions of Umberto Boccioni's Forme uniche della continuità dello spazio. The fourth issue analyses from a communication perspective, in the current digital age, works of art that can be replicated rapidly and unlimitedly in an instant, making artistic enjoyment a habitual gesture of flicking through screens with your fingers. Digital allows exceptional speed of dissemination, but also weakens the link with the original work. These issues have often been the focus of debate among artists and intellectuals. They have questioned and continue to question the reproducibility and multiplicity of works of art, sometimes starting from the cynical motto ‘counterfeit the coin’, attributed to Diogenes. This motto finds its iconic materialisation in the 20 cent coin.