Un Passaggio per l’Universo – Unveiling in Collodi

On Thursday 20 March, at around 11:00, Paolo Fusi’s installation “Un Passaggio per l’Universo” will be unveiled. The work will stand at the foot of the world’s tallest wooden Pinocchio, in via B. Pasquinelli in Collodi (Pescia – PT), creating a direct dialogue between contemporary sculpture, fairy-tale imagination and public space.

“Un Passaggio per l’Universo” (A Passage to the Universe) is a visionary art project by Paolo Fusi, born from a simple and radical idea: to take an essential, figurative representation of the human being off the Earth, towards the universe.

The work starts from universal themes – travel, exploration, curiosity, migration – experiences that run through human history and today find a new dimension in our relationship with space and future extra-terrestrial missions. The installations are conceived as “waiting stations”: small groups of stylised figures in light alloy, placed in different parts of the world, representing a symbolic human presence, listening, ready to depart.

The aim is twofold: on one hand, to create a global network of installations on Earth; on the other, to launch a cultural and concrete challenge to the world of research and space agencies, imagining one day transporting and installing these figures on the Moon and, looking further ahead, on Mars.

Concept and aims

The project connects contemporary art, science and the future of space exploration.

• The figures represent the essence of the human body, reduced to sign, structure, a minimal yet recognisable presence.
• Each installation is a “waiting station”, a symbolic point where humanity seems to be preparing for a passage towards the universe.
• The organisations hosting the works – parks, public spaces, institutions, bodies, foundations – become part of a shared narrative, helping to spread the project and the debate on travel, migration and borders.

The project aims to:

1. Create installations in various places around the world, as a network of “waiting stations” towards space.
2. Involve the public and institutions, opening a dialogue between art, science and the collective imagination.
3. Activate collaborations and sponsorships, including through dedicated initiatives, to support the development of the project up to its possible extra-terrestrial extension.

Technical details of the figures

The installations are made of stylised figures in light alloy, designed to be both essential and durable:

• Materials: round aluminium profiles with diameters of 12, 14, 16 and 18 mm
• Height of the figures: from about 100 cm to 170 cm
• Overall footprint (four figures): between 150 and 200 cm²
• Placement: directly on the ground; a base can be provided if needed, but is not strictly necessary

This formal choice underlines the idea of a minimal but meaningful presence, a kind of “human delegation” reduced to the essentials, ready to be placed in a park or, one day, on extra-terrestrial ground.

Project phases

“Un Passaggio per l’Universo” develops along three main lines:

1. Installations on Earth
   The first “waiting stations” are installed in key locations, creating meeting points between the work, the landscape and the community. Each installation is an opportunity for exchange, visibility and storytelling for its host, with the possibility of events, communication and related projects.
2. Artistic and cultural debate
   The project becomes a platform for reflection on travel, migration, exploration and the future of humanity. Exhibitions, meetings and public events can accompany the installations, turning the host locations into spaces for dialogue between art, science and the history of human exploration.
3. Collaboration with scientific partners and space agencies
   Looking ahead, the project aims to collaborate with organisations such as ESA, NASA and other space agencies, with the goal of making it possible to transport and install one of these figures on celestial bodies such as the Moon and, later, Mars.
   It would be a symbolic yet extremely powerful gesture: carrying a trace of human artistic imagination beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.

A poetic and concrete challenge

“Un Passaggio per l’Universo” joins poetry and planning, imagination and engineering, dream and feasibility. It invites us to ask:

• what “leaving” and “migrating” mean today;
• what signs we want to leave in the cosmos;
• how art and science can work together to tell the future of humanity.