From 1967 to 1969 Ugo Nespolo made three films about three artist friends: Mario Merz, Alighiero Boetti and Michelangelo Pistoletto. Neonmerzare, featuring Merz, was shot in the gallery of Gian Enzo Sperone in Turin, in 1968. With lyrical movements, the camera tracks a series of neon tubes, establishing an ideal dialogue between the traditions of the abstract cinema of light and colour, and experimental documentary filmmaking. The symphony of lights is accompanied by jazz improvisation by the saxophonist Carlo Actis Dato. —Tate Modern
