Colorful balloons filled with water, gathered inside a blue plastic tub and immersed in a quiet half-light: this is the essential, suspended image conveyed by the installation Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654 by Michael E. Smith. The work was created for the exhibition CC, hosted in the underground spaces of Palazzo Bentivoglio.
The installation reflects a sensibility that can be associated with Arte Povera through its use of simple, everyday, non-precious materials. Yet rather than asserting a direct affiliation, Smith seems to activate a subtle reflection on the status of the object itself: what is ordinary is removed from its original function and repositioned within a context that radically alters its perception. The object is no longer a tool, but a presence. Familiar, recognizable items take on a sculptural quality, acquiring an unexpected monumentality.
The playful, lightweight connotation of the balloon is supplanted by unforeseen attributes. Once filled with water, the balloons become heavy bodies—yet also fragile and vulnerable. Light plays a crucial role: it grazes the surfaces, emphasizes their elastic tension, guides the viewer’s gaze, and opens a visual threshold toward what might otherwise go unnoticed. The dimness is not merely an atmospheric condition but a perceptual device. The installation reveals itself gradually, demanding time and sustained attention.
The title refers to the chorale Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654 by Johann Sebastian Bach, establishing a connection to the musical dimension. References to music recur throughout Smith’s practice, amplifying the semantic layering of his works. Born in Detroit in 1977, the artist has developed a minimalist approach grounded in the use of common objects, often discarded or degraded. His sculptures and installations interrogate systems of use and consumption, questioning the value attributed to things and their fate within the cycle of production.
The exhibition title, CC, also plays with perception: when pronounced in English (“see see”), it evokes the act of seeing itself. The curatorial intention appears to be precisely this—to encourage an active gaze capable of moving beyond immediacy and grasping the intrinsic nature of the installations. Viewers are invited to slow down, to linger, and to exercise a conscious, attentive form of looking.
The work is part of the exhibition CC by Michael E. Smith, curated by Simone Menegoi and Tommaso Pasquali, at Palazzo Bentivoglio, Bologna.

Michael E. Smith, CC, Palazzo Bentivoglio, Bologna, 2025 ph. Carlo Favero.

21/02/26