Primitive Learning: Accumulative Learning and
the Transmittance of Knowledge
Gatari Surya Kusuma

Prologue
Observing Filippo Sciascia's artworks, one perceives the intricate systems and patterns running in our world. I have come to understand how every element in nature is intricately intertwined. Similarly, knowledge, rituals, and events are shown to occur and circulate accumulatively and have long connections across decades to maintaining extensive links throughout the years. In this text, I would like to discuss my encounter with Sciascia's work and explore the representation of cyclical knowledge on a more intimate scale. Furthermore, it is essential to highlight that this solo exhibition titled "Primitive Learning: Accumulative Learning and the Transmittance of Knowledge" demonstrates his dedication to establishing art as a critical medium for connecting science with everyday human experience. I will begin by examining how art functions as a metaphor yet also conveys strength through its tangible manifestation across diverse mediums.
Upon viewing Sciascia’s artworks, our gaze and sensibilities are tuned to the materials he uses. Each material is a physical realization of the concept he envisioned, from its size and texture to its mode of presentation. Although Sciascia's pieces involve a diversity of materials and display techniques, fully appreciating his work requires us to engage all our senses and a vivid imagination about the intertwining of science and art. Sciascia uses light not just as a powerful metaphor but as a tangible medium, prompting speculation on how art and science might interact. Science gives us hard data and verifiable facts, essential for knowledge acquisition and learning. This leads us to question what place art holds in this dialogue of enlightenment and the learning process?.

Accumulative Learning as Fundamental to Artistic Practice
Let's begin by exploring the methodology behind Sciascia's art practice with a descriptive account of my first encounter with him. Upon arriving at his studio, Sciascia warmly welcomed us. The first piece to capture my attention was a striking painting of a cave, bathed in striped sun shadows. Curious, I inquired about the origin of these patterns. He explained, "They emerge from light.In my previous series, 'Lux Lumina,' the represented light sources are painted with pigments. Meanwhile, in 'Primitive Learning,' the light sources are from electrical lights and incorporating materials like quartz that embody light, I aim to add depth and express the essence of electricity within the painting itself." Our discussion then broadened to the topic of light, considering its various roles from a practical source of illumination to a symbol of enlightenment across different cultures, historical beliefs, natural phenomena, and its scientific correlations, including cable bacteria, a group of multicellular bacteria that generate electrical currents along their long filamentous body.
Sciascia’s approach to materials and natural systems is never taken for granted. He deeply reflects on how nature could work to the reciprocal relationships between nature, humans, and other entities. He contemplates the interaction between nature and society, a reflection that his intuitive journey is implied in his works. His depiction of the Goa Gajah cave, which initially caught my eye, not only symbolizes a shelter but also represents a space of collective human enlightenment and cognitive revolution, where abstract human thought began to flourish. He emphasizes that the integration of light is not for mere aesthetic beautification but signifies an ongoing process of accumulative learning.
The portrayal of the cave narrates the entanglement of science and art. During the primordial era, the cave served as protection from animals, shelter from natural phenomena, and a canvas for the early human cognitive process. Dense with prehistoric inscriptions, these markings evolved into complex languages, carrying both visual and linguistic information. Sciascia sees these primal sites as invaluable repositories between past knowledge and present explorations. Today, this quest for understanding is continued through artificial intelligence, echoed in today's data-centric world where binary ASCII codes, composed of ones (1) and zeros (0), are used in artificial intelligence, highlighting his fascination and initiating a discourse on this subject.

The Goa Gajah cave represents an immaterial experience, drawing him into a multi-layered engagement with Balinese culture from its lingering animist traditions to present-day beliefs. The tactile experience of roads, the smell of plants and soils, and the rocky textures provided him with sensory details to transmute the essence onto canvas. Back in his studio, these observations and studies transform into a comprehensive visual representation, engaging with his art forms a narrative that redistributes the observer’s experience with the artist’s intention. This approach suggests that experiencing Sciascia’s work is not merely viewing but participating in an ongoing dialogue.
The ongoing accumulative practice from Filippo Sciascia is inspired by phylogenetics to explain his artwork. A phylogenetic tree is a diagram that represents evolutionary relationships among organisms. Sciascia creates paintings that incorporate elements from these systems, melding the material theory with the materials in his paintings. He experiments with theoretical concepts through tactile and sensory exploration, finding new ways to perceive knowledge-based phenomena. In his approach to phylogenetics, he uses organic leaf pigments to achieve green hues and melatonin powder to demonstrate the effects of melatonin, a hormone produced by the brain in response to darkness. Created in 2019, his work features tiny dot-like fungi growing on the surface, a natural occurrence that also underscores his commitment to integrating the logic of painting with natural processes. Nature has its own rhythms and meanings, yet the artist utilizes these as mediums, allowing nature to express itself through the artwork. The presence of tiny fungi, although not dominant, sends a message to humans that the painting is a living entity as well. I admire Sciascia's dedication to engaging with nature through his art, moving beyond mere conceptual understanding.
Another work guiding our interpretation of Sciascia’s pieces involves the Rosetta Mission. Launched in 2003, The Rosetta Mission involved a space probe designed to understand what the comet tails are made of and to collect data. This concept parallels the nature of a cave as a source of information, artificial intelligence, and the act of venturing beyond our planet for data collection, all embody the essence of gathering information. Regarding background, the Rosetta Mission was a satellite tasked with orbiting to receive data.
In Sciascia’s interpretation, the Rosetta Mission serves as a material exploration of its operational processes and how these processes might be perceived through his art. He delved into how the Mission collected and relayed data back to Earth, drawing parallels to how caves, artificial intelligence, and exploratory ventures outside all serve as means to acquire information.
The layout of the installation in the gallery mirrors how the space probe might have landed upside down, with its solar panels turned away from the sun, rendering it unable to recharge. The representation of comet P67 acts as a gateway to contextualize the concept—data as a tool and reinforcement for accumulative learning. Sciascia adapted these subjects into his work, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the Rosetta Mission's material and form, which delivered crucial data to Earth.

Materials as Manifestations and Acts of Transmitting Knowledge
In Sciascia's body of work, he transitions from the literal to the figurative and abstract, consistently featuring elements of illumination and knowledge that are deep-rooted in nature. He exploring the forms and essence of beings in nature, using them as representatives and metaphors. Among his recent interests is cable bacteria, which is reflected in his piece. This draws a parallel to the human invention of electrical cables, used as electrical conductors to carry electricity - a concept previously assumed to be a purely human innovation. However, we later discovered that there is an organism in nature that had already achieved this thousands of years ago.
He learned that the cells of cable bacteria must work together to generate energy. Sciascia has replicated this cooperative mechanism in a sculptural installation, choosing this medium over painting to make an artistic statement about how the work and its spatial arrangement create a polarizing effect within the gallery setting. We had a lengthy conversation about this cable bacteria. I would not have thought more deeply about cable bacteria and their interactions if I had not had the experience of seeing this work. This example underscores the impactful role of art in intriguing the audience. Additionally, it highlights how nature possesses abundant knowledge and techniques and how humans have the ability to adapt and recreate, using them to meet daily needs.
Sciascia allows his artworks to adapt to both the space and the conceptual framework; the works evolve within and respond to their environment. This approach mirrors the behavior of phylogenetics and cable bacteria, which scientists examine for their dynamic and accumulative processes. His practice is prominently displayed in his current exhibition at Nonfrasa Gallery. This exhibition not only introduces new pieces but also includes selected works from his earlier "Primitive Learning" series. These pieces, having been part of different exhibitions, continue connecting and recalling rather than being unintentionally divided. This exhibition does not clearly define "Learning"; instead, it triggers our senses to think deeply about our relationship with and knowledge of nature, as well as reflecting on how much we understand our environment and the natural phenomena that support our modern behaviors. It also explores the connection between perception and information, both metaphorically and functionally. Ultimately, Sciascia uses a mixture of materials enriched with information and knowledge as a means to represent, or serve as representations of, both subjects and materials.