Carlo Salvatore Laconi, from Sestu the artist who makes the ancient dialogue with the future

If he could see these small and large monoliths, a man who lived two thousand years ago and more in the footsteps of Asterix and Obelix would open his eyes wide in surprise, but then he would immediately feel at home. They are the works of art of Carlo Salvatore Laconi , born in Sestu ; in art, he adds a 3, in Roman numerals, to his name, and signs himself Laconi Carlo Salvatore III . "I am the third with these names in the family," he explains. Lately, he has been exhibiting his sculptures in Cagliari , with other artists, in the exhibition "Nuove Illusioni", at the Castello di San Michele. A man with irrepressible energy, with a thousand identities. A bit of a sculptor, a bit of an inventor, certainly an artist: "Call them if you want, computer menhirs" or "Infossili", he says with contagious enthusiasm. With engravings that resemble microchip drawings: but framed with the camera of a smartphone, they show websites, behaving like markers and QR codes. "This is how I connect the ancient with the future."

46 years old, his research project is called “Connecting Landscape”. The idea, he says, «I had it in 2003, Tiscali was born and everything seemed possible. I wanted to codify the art that exists in Sardinia, maybe create a large network of interactive monoliths connected throughout Europe , given that there are similar ones in France and England. I remember when a shepherd saw one of my first works and commented: is it a cash machine? He had already recognized the chip that also appears on an object of everyday use».

Laconi felt like an artist since he was a child: «As a child I pronounced my name Carlo Pittore, wrongly; then very soon I started holding a pencil and hammer and chisel . I studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, and taught in schools».

How is a work born? «I study the landscape, I work with the administrations; I try to tell the identity of the place, of the people». He has created many: «There are about thirty large ones, to which I often add smaller copies, I have made more than a hundred of those». Some examples: «In Croatia I created a sculpture for a Russian patron, the code told the story of his land. In Dresden for the Ostrale Biennale near the concentration camps I sculpted a large printed circuit on the floor. Inside there are sensors and by walking on them you can hear an air raid alarm. In Sestu I decorated the street lamps, with the help of school children, with the Arte&Ambiente#VivoSestu project. The codes tell the story of the country's heritage».

For the future, however, "I have two dreams. A large interactive work in the park of Anelli in Cagliari , which I called Blugate, and will enhance the sea front. And then my startup, Microchoc: QR codes engraved on chocolate ." So connecting will also be delicious.