Corpo d'aria

Conceived as pneumatic sculptures or pieces of air, the series Corpi d’aria was made in 1959–60. Presented as camping equipment or a set of domestic tools, they were sold in a wooden box containing a folding metal tripod, a deflated white balloon and a mouthpiece. 45 copies, signed and numbered, were made and priced at 30,000 Italian lire each. Most were sold. When fully expanded, the balloons measured 80 cm in diameter. The idea was for the buyer to inflate the balloon, although Manzoni himself could be asked to do it. In this case, the buyer would be charged an extra 200 lire for every litre of air exhaled by the artist. Influenced by Marcel Duchamp’s 3 Stoppages Étalon and Air de Paris, the work defied the physical limits of art and the exploitation of the human body for artistic ends.