The name attributed to the sculpture ” Cosmic Magnet ” (in everyday language also known as “Great Skeleton”, “Skeleton” or “24 meters of golden shapes”, the latter definition with clear detection of the size of the work and allusion to the project, never realized, to cover it with pure gold) alludes to the relationship that the colossal creature, reproducing an anthropomorphic species unknown to earthlings, maintains with cosmic space through the golden rod which, like a gigantic gnomon balanced on the middle finger of the right hand, marks an original and otherworldly time that captures the radiations of the cosmos.
The profound connection between earth and sky pervades the creative force of this majestic sculpture; the golden rod balanced on the tip and resting on the middle finger of the right hand refers to distant stars whose energies it attracts to the earth.
The work was created by the artist in absolute secrecy and exhibited as a surprise at the Magasin in Grenoble on the occasion of the great anthological exhibition ordered in that museum by the master in 1990. It will reappear six years later, alone, exhibited by De Dominicis in the courtyard of the Palace of Capodimonte in Naples as an example not only of his creative power but also of the other prerogative of his talent, consisting in presenting a single work as an absolute universe that exhausts the reasons for its being within itself.
In 2021, the Cassa di Risparmio di Foligno Foundation created an exhibition dedicated to the work and the artist to allow an immersive visit and greater usability for users; the technical project was supervised by Prof. Italo Tomassoni and the architect Emanuele De Donno.
The work is made of high density polystyrene covered with silicone glues used to obtain a very smooth and shiny bone surface. In the internal parts there are armor and iron profiles designed to support the individual parts of the colossus.
