Mollified is a Venetian artistic collective founded by Cosima Montavoci and Lorenzo Passi in 2022, which, through the lens of glass, offers an anthropologically ironic perspective on human behavior. The name of the collective — which in English means “placated”, “softened” — is inspired by the glassworking technique, where the fusion of glass at different temperatures and the combination of lampwork and clear glass make the material softer, gentler, like a symbolic process of softening the rigidities of life.
Through the contemporary reinterpretation of the ex-voto, Mollified creates a sculptural practice in which glass becomes a tool for protection, detachment, and reflection. The resulting sculptures are secular relics that ironize our obsessions and the strategies with which we try to give form to the invisible: from luck to health, from love to failure.
Glass, far from being a decorative material, becomes an expressive and contemporary language capable of interrogating reality and the contradictions of the individual, from the desire for control to the search for meaning. Objects and forms, once cold and hard, transform into something fluid, almost organic, reflecting human fragility and resilience.
Mollified explores the boundary between craftsmanship and contemporary art, giving new life to objects that are both symbols of fragility and tools of resistance.
THE MANIFESTO
What:
Mollified: glass unites us and our work, melding them by mollifying Murano amulets, composed of small anatomical lamp-worked parts, wrapped in a glass envelope that covers and strengthens them with its protection. In joining with the parts, the glowing glass modifies, mangles, and softens them, giving them armor and a new aspect that will allow them to remain preserved and appear differently. Even in modern times, people have not stopped longing for a perfect, eternal, pain-free existence.
Mollified’s inspiration lies in ex-votos, and deals with the human dynamics of asking a third party for one’s salvation. We look at these dynamics anthropologically, casting an ironic but gentle gaze: by definition, “mollified” means softened, alleviated.
Why:
The Mollified Collective invites you not to give up and accept that things “just happen.” We ask you to put some courage into it, whether to break down predetermined patterns or to run against destiny, against luck; we shape our own existence, even in the darkest and hardest moments of life; indeed, it is especially in these moments that our choices make the difference. We are not trapped in the spell of an already decided and adverse fate; we choose one, no matter what.
How:
Mollified is versatile and constantly evolving. Mollified unabashedly addresses intimate human themes and taboos with a detached, ironic, sharp anthropological gaze. By debunking difficult topics and avoiding all controversy, it would like to plant a seed of doubt, to trigger reflection. Mollified would like to address each of us, bestowing on people a spirit of soft revolution and inviting them not to accept with resignation the way things are, while waiting for salvation from the outside. Mollified is a soft embrace in a harsh reality.
