Red door stop in Barga Vecchia

A little over 20 years ago, the creator of some of the most popular, enduring images of late 20th-century art, Keith Haring painted a mural on the side of the convent in Piazza Sant’Antonio, Pisa.

The mural’s title -‘Tuttomondo” summed up the artist’s constant pursuit of interaction with the public, represented in this case by the yellow figure which is walking or running in the centre of the composition on the same level as a passer-by.  Amongst the other 29 figures in the mural there is a bright red figure, further up on the wall holding a green baby.

It would appear that this red figure, (is it male or female?) could have been the inspiration for a very inventive door stop which recently appeared in Barga Vecchia.

People passing by the newsagents – Mario Edicola,  just inside Porta Reale  started to notice a tiny red figure seemingly keeping the door open for them as they entered the shop.  The  carefully cut out wooden figure was in fact the work of the architect Massimiliano Lanciani who’s office is nearby  and who decided to make a series of prototypes to keep the door of the Edicola open during the recent spell of good weather that Barga has been enjoying right through the summer and which continued well into the autumn.

Taking with the architect Lanciani  this week,  it came up in discussion the possibility that the prototype could well move on to become a production piece with the possibility that the red figure doorstop  could go on to sell around the world via a website set up specifically for that purpose.  The irony was not lost on Lanciani who has worked for many years on some of the cities most famous villas and palaces  and yet could probably be making his name around the world with an object that could fit in his pocket.

Observers noted the similarity between that situation and that of the musician Andrea Guzzoletti who worked for more than three years on his “Invisible Cities” disc  which although garnered  some critical acclaim failed to capture the commercial market whereas his jingle “Strump” which took a few minutes to produce went on to sell around the world.