ARGENTUM: SILVER WINGS

ARGENTUM — GUIDO ARGENTINI The project Argentum began in 1995, from a simple idea: what would happen if I could remove the skin, the color, and turn a human being into a statue? I covered the body with a silver body paint and began photographing it as if it were a sculpture. The silver surface transformed the women into something almost unreal: metallic, liquid almost weightless. I was looking for a way to move beyond the traditional representation of the nude and reduce the human figure to its essential forms, lines, movement and light. My inspiration came largely from sculpture, particularly the work of Brancusi, but also from dance and the drawings of Rodin. This is why I chose dancers, gymnasts and aerialists as my subjects. Their bodies could create positions that were impossible for a conventional model, allowing me to explore tension, balance, geometry and sensuality at the same time. I also introduced geometric forms — circles, squares, triangles — creating a dialogue between the organic human body and the perfection of abstract shapes. Argentum became a project that lasted many years: from 1995 until 2008. It was not simply about photographing a woman covered in silver. It was an attempt to transform the human body into something timeless: somewhere between a sculpture, a drawing and a living being. Argentum became a book in 2013 and a documentary film https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4152808/ This short film is the first of a series that i will share, takes you behind the images and into the world of Argentum.