"Living Assemblages"

Living Assemblages are a form of artistic composition developed by Ottavio Rosati, showcased in Tuscany and a Swiss art gallery in the summer of 2023.

The history of Living Assemblages stems from The Chessboard, a therapeutic game by R. created in the 1980s. In this game, with the help of an analyst or within a group, the protagonist creates compositions of images and puppets, figurines, and action figures of animals or characters from comics, cinema, or souvenirs on a chessboard. While The Chessboard originates in the analyst's studio to synthesize a problem or dream through a set of characters, a living assemblage is created at home or in the studio alone, akin to painting or sculpting.

Regarding the birth of Living Assemblages, Rosati writes: "One Christmas day, I was observing Jung's Red Book, the result of a long and significant 'active imagination,' a dialogue between the Self and the Unconscious. The exceptional beauty of the drawings, however, was petrified in what Pirandello calls 'The Form' and J. L. Moreno, the father of psychodrama, defines as 'Cultural Conserve.' How can one give up the quality of hard-won results to facilitate change? An artist, at some point, stops. Stopping the image is normal in art but can be problematic for compositions primarily meant to be dynamic and therapeutic. As a director, I would never stop changing the editing of my work, but I know it's not possible. That Christmas, I thought that only compositions of plastic figures offer the possibility of continuously modifying the image by moving or replacing elements of the system. That's why I called these works 'living assemblages.'"

Several Living Assemblages by Rosati have been acquired by collectors. However, from an analytical perspective, the formula of their structure is open to everyone, much like Jung's active imagination and Alejandro Jodorowsky's psychomagic.

Rosati states that Living Assemblages:

Have a highly articulated visual and artistic dimension.
Tend to capture attention and enjoy being photographed and discussed.
Are very effective in the therapy of emotional traumas.
Influence the unconscious psyche of the person living with the author at various levels.
Use the objet trouvé but do not limit themselves to taking and displacing it in an artistic context: they transform it, marry it, and recombine it without regard for its original form.
Occupy any space and move according to our (and their) need to relocate, revolutionizing the decor and space.
Are living because they can change names, structures, and placements over time.
Are never finished. But they speak to their author when they are empty and want to disappear.
Rest on any surface or space (tables, bookshelves, drawers, cabinets).
Appreciate lights or spotlights focused on them.
Have a dual nature: artistic and therapeutic (Rosati considers Art a source of well-being).
Misuse, understand, and court small and large pre-existing artworks. In fact, they are Mercurial.