Sabotage of a working day takes as its starting point the wheels of ergonomic office chairs — objects designed for efficiency and the optimisation of working bodies. Through repeated casting in ceramic and cement-based resins, the wheel becomes a sculptural module: reproduced serially, accumulating, bound together by found electrical wires, USB cables, and steel cords. 

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The production process replicates the logic of industrial manufacturing while registering its own degradation: moulds wear and break during continuous replication, generating errors and deformations that are preserved rather than corrected. The wheel does not become a copy but a deviation: serial form detached from its operative logic, which begins to fray. 

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The sculpture is conceived as modular and variable, adapting its form and scale to the spatial and architectural conditions of each exhibition context. The wheels, designed for productivity and to control micro-movement, enter a state of suspension — accumulating into bodies that no longer work.

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- Ecosystem. Narrating the theme of consumerism by creating a journey where the first perceptual impact is linked to nature is no small feat. When Elmgreen & Dragset, in the upper space of the Podium at Fondazione Prada in Milan, reconstructed the modular office spaces designed in the 1960s by Robert Probst—emphasizing the sense of isolation from human life in favor of a purely working, non-identity-based, and alienating existence—they demonstrated how little it takes to strip daily life of its uniqueness. “Our bodies are no longer the active subjects of our existences. Unlike in the industrial era, today they no longer generate value within the advanced production mechanisms typical of contemporary society,” declare the two Danish artists. Luca Staccioli takes the viewer down this path but without directing them toward a feeling of unease about the theme he is analyzing. By punctuating the gallery space with works created through various processes and mediums, the artist succeeds in crafting a serene, pleasant atmosphere, albeit surreal and disorienting at first glance. The wheels of ergonomic office chairs have been reinterpreted by the artist as refined, ironic sculptures that repeat in small and medium compositions. Entering the first room of ArtNoble Gallery, these elements—collected by the artist and the gallerist from various places—form a large clustered installation that cascades from the ceiling. It is a massive wisteria bursting from the wall, welcoming the spectator in a dizzying embrace. What is this branch of lilac-colored nature doing here in March? Upon closer inspection, wires, cables, electrical outlets, and mechanical elements extend downward. This is not a natural habitat. Instead, it is a grand sculptural installation that, as a prelude to Staccioli’s second solo exhibition at the Milanese gallery, introduces the theme the artist wishes to explore—an artificial ecosystem in action. The wheels gradually detach, transforming into small, meticulously crafted ceramic sculptures. Their colors are soft, displayed on the walls like three-dimensional icons: pink, lilac, green (recalling the prickly pears Staccioli previously created in Kit eliminacode multifunzione (fichi d’India)), pale yellow, and light orange. None of these hues evoke the world of consumption, piecework labor, or endlessly repeated gestures that lead to self-erasure. Luca evokes his most romantic imagination, his phenomenological inversion in which solutions exist. It only takes poetics and aesthetics to shift towards new directions. Sabotage of a working day functions as the initial connector, as a tool that - “by magic or protest,” as the artist writes about the ergonomic chair wheels - can overturn the functionality of a system. - Text by Rossella Farinotti

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