Between 1973 and 1976 Matta designed and built, with the painter, sculptor and friend Bruno Elisei, the AUTOAPOCALIPSE, recycling old cars, as a provocation against consumerism. The first two modules were exhibited for the first time in Tarquinia (Church of S. Maria in Castello) and in Naples (Campi Flegrei), then completed (three modules) it was exhibited in Bologna Galleria d'arte moderna), Terni (piazza del Comune), La Spezia (centro Allende), Florence (ramps of San Niccolò-Forte Belvedere).
AUTOAPOCALIPSE stems from Matta's idea-provocation to use part of the automobile industry in the manufacture of houses. Everything originates from a simple intuition: “Cars are too many, houses are few: let's turn cars into houses”.
“the apocalypse that is the catastrophe, the cataclysm, the disaster and at the same time the revelation. The revelation would be to discover that this disaster, the automobile, can be avoided with a discovery, with a new life project. (...) AUTOAPOCALIPSE is a home for living. (...) Le Courbusier said 'machine for living', but for me it is the opposite: humanising the machine”
Renato Nicolai, L'Autoapocalipse di Roberto Sebastian Matta, Editori Riuniti, 1980, pp. 6-7.
Nothing remains of the original construction, but plans are in the pipeline for a faithful reconstruction of the AUTOAPOCALIPSE at Bandita.
All the stages of the Autoapocalipse:
Tarquinia 1973
Milan Triennial (1st project)
Tarquinia (1st module of the 2nd project, Secondary Schools, Tarquinia, April 1975)
Tarquinia (1st and 2nd module of the 2nd project, Santa Maria in Castello, Tarquinia, April 1976)
Naples (1st and 2nd module of the 2nd project, National Unity Festival, Naples, September 1976)
Bologna (final version - 3 modules - Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna, Bologna, May-August 1977) - La Spezia (final version - 3 modules - Centro Allende, La Spezia, 1-30 October 1977)
Terni (definitive version - 3 modules - from September 1977)
Florence (definitive version - 3 modules - Rampe di San Nicolò, Florence, 28 June - 28 July 1978)
Prato (Centro Promozionale Artistico Culturale, Prato, 22 December 1978 - 21 January 1979)
Matta and the Autoapocalipse in Florence, July 1978
