Until September 18 more than 100 art pieces in regenerated plastics on display for a special journey between art and nature

The spectacular creatures of Cracking Art have come to Castel Romano Outlet. An unexpected encounter between species, such as penguins, elephants, wolves and dolphins, is taking place at the popular Roman outlet until September 18. More than 100 maxi sculptures from the Cracking Art movement, in different shape, size and colour, will peek on visitors from roofs, secret passageways, squares and avenues, inviting them on an enticing itinerary between art and sustainability.

The sculptures and their progressive discovery on site represent a fascinating means through which to tell children and adults about contemporary global themes, especially pertaining to ethics and innovative technology. The artworks were indeed made to elicit a collective reflection on the effects of humankind on the natural world. Regenerating plastic means taking it away from the devastating destruction of our ecological habitats, and giving it new life. More importantly, transforming it into art means communicating sustainability through an original aesthetic language.

The exhibition gives visitors of the McArthurGlen centre the chance of an educational experience. As part of the program, there are many activities dedicated to the little ones, such as a treasure hunt on animal species (every day of the exhibit) and free creative workshops on environmental subjects (every Saturday and Sunday from 10.30 to 18.30) with games and other activities, connected to the world of animals and of sustainability.

There are innumerable stories that these animals tell. The giant crocodile establishes a connection between extinctions due to natural phenomena and those caused by human action, while raining frogs announce unexpected climatic events. The wolfpack emphasises the importance of collective action for the collective good and the swallows – symbolising the rebirth of nature after the stillness of the winter – glide down to wish us a cultural rebirth in the framework of sustainability.

The Cracking Art movement was born in 1993 with the aim of radically changing the history of art through devotion to social and natural issues. This, along with the movement’s revolutionary use of plastic, stresses the ever-tighter connection between natural and artificial life. Cracking art is called as such because it wants ‘to crack’ the status quo, to break free form the past and break through the future. Catalytic cracking is also the way the chemical reaction that transforms crude oil into plastic is called. For the artists that are part of this movement catalytic cracking is the moment in which the natural becomes artificial, which is at the heart of their pieces.