Carrara

Before settling in at the British School in Rome for my 6 week stint there, I had plans to do at least one more trip in Italy. I was wanting to go to Capri and visit Casa Malaparte, the cliff-clinging house made famous in Godard's Contempt (Le Mepris). But, when I contacted the foundation that manages the site, it became clear that a visit would not be possible. So instead, I decided to spend more time in Carrara and Pietrasanta.
When I first got to Carrara I could hear Withnail's voice in my ear saying "we've gone on holiday by mistake". It seemed like a dead town, a bit like my recollections of Watertown, New York...a working class town without any work...grim. The streets were nearly empty, the shops closed, and there was a distinct absence of the kind of polish one becomes accustomed to whilst visiting the kind of towns that people visit. There were reasons for this: 1) It was off-season 2) it was lunch and the whole place was shut down until 3:30 and, 3) this isn't a town people tend to visit so it lacks any of the touristic charm found in abundance in neighbouring Pietrasanta. Carrara is a working quarry town. There are hundreds of quarries (cava, in italian) in the surrounding hills. People have been cutting marble out of these hills since Roman times, making it one of the oldest continuously operating industrial sites in the world. Michelangelo toured these quarries to select the marble for his sculptures and his face and name can bee seen all around town, including the place where I stayed: Hotel Michelangelo. This would have been a posh palace of a Hotel back in its day (1950's), worthy of a scene in a Fellini film. Now it has a Coen Brothers quality to it that is hard to describe: a bit like an aging Hollywood starlet without money for plastic surgery; Sunset Boulevard meets Barton Fink.
In addition to the business of selling marble, the carving of marble is big here, too: There is a school that teaches the science behind marble, and the techniques of carving it; an art school with spacious new carving studios set into the hills just north of the town centre; and private studios that will take your sculpture in plaster form (or any 3D form) and have their artisans carve it in marble for you. One of the most famous is that of Carlo Nicoli



It took me three visits before I could track down the man who runs this studio. Lucky for me, when I meet Carlo he was leaving his office, and I was just in time to enjoy some appertivi (Campari and soda, bar snacks...a kind of Italian happy hour) with him. The next day we visited some of the quarries with his fiery daughter, Francesa, who runs the business with him. Below, Carlo is inspecting some statuary quality stones that have been put aside for him by the guy at this particular quarry. Meeting Carlo and spending time with him made my time in Carrara really special. Not only do we share a love of art, but Carlo is a bit of a motorhead, too. He drives a black WRX Sti, and was quick to point out to me the Brembo brakes his Subaru is equipped with to reign in its 300 horses.




In addition to making works in stone for a host of artists worldwide, Nicoli Studios also has artists work on site on their own pieces. I was so stoked when I was there that I thought that once I got home in July, I would head directly back to Carrara to carve for three weeks (and bring some other artists/carver-curious ppl with me). Now, I think that is a bit crazy, and besides there are weddings I must attend. But looking ahead to summer 2009, I am thinking days of carving marble, swimming in the sea, and leisurely preparing Italian meals is a very good use of time. And it would be rude not to rent a Land Rover for weekend transport between towns.




Not all the artwork in Carrara is made of marble, some of it is sprayed on to marble. God Bless this stencil. Post-modern Jesus art. He is the original energizer bunny...he keeps going, and going.