By one of the crossroads at the entrance to the historic town centre of Colle di Val d’Elsa, there is a construction with a round base that once functioned as a cistern. It is no longer in use but the suggestive nature of the space has remained intact over the centuries; indeed, the cistern resembles a kind of miniature military fort, difficult to gain access to, designed to protect something valuable inside. It has an austere presence, the silence partially broken by noises from surrounding houses.
It is not by chance that Marisa Merz should have settled on this space for her intervention; she has often produced works for open-air spaces, choosing unusual locations like a beach or arranging clusters of figures on walls. Here she has managed to take account of the context of the work, highlighting the spirit of the place and choosing to focus in particular on the door, a physical but above all symbolic element connecting inside and outside, what is immediately visible and what remains hidden and constitutes the real essence of things.