If anyone still believed timepieces belonged to clockmakers, MOODCLOCK lays that myth to rest. Serralunga d’Alba, better known for UNESCO vineyards and medieval castles than existential performance art, now hosts a spectacle as whimsical as the local Barolo. MOODCLOCK, Riccardo Previdi’s new installation, mocks and mimics tradition in equal measure.
Those unconvinced, or simply passing through Piazza Umberto I, will notice that the 17th-century bell tower now sports four cheerful, or perhaps deranged, wooden faces. Brightly colored, carved with expressions ranging from laughter to despair, these panels substitute time for mood—because, apparently, emotions never miss a chime.
Drawing on the local tradition of sundials and bell-ringing, Previdi turns the arched bell housing upside down, transforming it into a wooden shield. This modern reinterpretation references the cheerful absurdity of emojis, challenging the seriousness with which one might approach either a clock tower or a church.
Materials stick to the every day: wood, paint, the same things used for local shutters. The colors—deep green and burgundy—poke at both the village’s taste in window trims and its enthusiasm for grape leaves. Tourists might wonder if they’re looking at a playful art piece or the result of an overzealous restoration committee.
The Village Plays Along
Not to be outdone by the bell tower, Tenuta Cucco joins the act. The family-run organic wine estate, just outside the village, hosts a fifth face. It sits awkwardly, an upside-down grinning emoji dubbed ZEITGEIST, staring at visitors as they ascend the road. Between this and the castle’s brooding silhouette, there’s little left to remind anyone what time it is—and everything to remind them how it feels.
Sergio Moscone, the mayor and apparent fan of public art, offers his take: “Thanks to MOODCLOCK, Serralunga d’Alba joins a circuit of outstanding contemporary art presentations supported by major foundations and leading private entities engaged in Piedmont’s cultural mission. This marks the second time our municipality has collaborated with Fondazione La Raia on public art projects, a testament to the strength and value of public-private synergy.”
For those seeking a philosophical rationale, the Foundation’s president, Giorgio Rossi Cairo, waxes poetic: “With MOODCLOCK, the Foundation, already behind eleven other commissions by international artists, returns to Serralunga d’Alba to further encourage reflection on the town’s extraordinary and unique historic and natural landscape. Through art, we hope to heighten awareness of its defining features: the keep, the Langhe landscape stretching toward Monviso, the UNESCO-recognised vineyards, the village, and the ancient church within the estate of Tenuta Cucco, now deconsecrated but open by request to tourists and travellers.”
Previdi himself critiques the tyranny of traditional time: “The bell tower, lacking both clock and sundial, made me think about the passing of time and how our measurement of it has become increasingly precise in a society driven by modernity and technology. My MOODCLOCK takes up a space traditionally used to track time but suggests a different reading: one that is less fragmented, less efficient, perhaps less abstract and more grounded in real human experience.”
For those inclined to ignore the deeper layers, there’s always the chance to stare at emoji faces and wonder why anyone ever trusted the passage of time to a tower.
