Giovanni Contardi - Rubik's Cube Mosaic - 'Numbness'

Artist: Giovanni Contardi
Title: Numbness
Year: 2026
Medium: Rubikin kuutioista mosaiikki (seinäveistos)
Materials: 48 alkuperäistä Rubikin kuutiota, MDF-levy, arkistointiliima
Dimensions: 45.8 × 34.3 × 7.8 cm
Edition: Yksittäisteos
Signature: Käsin signeerattu takasivulle.

Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity with archival hologram.
Ready to hang. Professionally packed for shipping.

‘Numbness’ develops through repetition. A large white “N” introduces the composition, followed by a sequence of repeated forms that initially extend the reading of an elongated “NO”.

As the sequence continues, the word gradually loses its force and begins to function less as language and more as pattern. The work reflects on the way repeated exposure gradually reduces the impact of an initial reaction: how something strongly felt can, through continued exposure, become increasingly familiar, flattened and eventually absorbed into the background.

This shift is also reflected in the physical construction of the work. The frontal surface is deliberately reduced to a controlled blue-and-white structure, while the adjacent faces of the cubes reveal a far more fragmented and saturated field of colour. The contrast reinforces the sense of emotional flattening suggested by the title.

Giovanni Contardi is an Italian artist internationally recognised for his mosaics created entirely from original Rubik’s Cubes. His installations are permanently exhibited at the Rossini National Museum in Italy and at Disney Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel at Disneyland Paris.

His work was also mentioned by Ernő Rubik, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, in his autobiographical book Cubed: The Puzzle of Us All (2020).

Selected works, installations, and process documentation are shared on Instagram under the name JVENB.