Marco Dessardo was born in Belgium to Italian parents. He was educated as a stone sculptor in Brussels and Paris.
He lived for some years in Lucainena de las Torres, in the Andalusian mountains, working on local Spanish marble. The sculptures were painted and glued, being exhibited in Madrid (catalog Galería Bárcena & Cía), Paris (Chromolithes), and Brussels (catalog Atelier 34O).
Back to France in 1993 and facing real estate stress, he focused on a series of Foldable and Disposable sculptures in his Rungis studio located in Paris in the middle of a recycling factory. During this period some artworks were not insured during the exhibitions because insurance companies are not used to deal with «disposable» objects. The disposable theme continued on later with the Junk Trail, the organization of a recycling art system of junk produced by the activities of local artists over the previous 10 years. A still active bazaar (catalog KQ Series by I-Park Foundation, Inc. Connecticut, USA).
Because his sculptures were progressively becoming too big to be easily moved, he began larger site specific works built in-situ. Having opportunities to exhibit in various different outdoor places around the world, like China, Lapland, Mexico, The Netherlands, Cuba, Korea, Germany, Chili, his work became more and more influenced by local context. Focusing on the context, some themes developed, one of them was to do As Local People Do. To be inspired by local constructions without necessarily revealing the original purpose. Integration to a context for a sculptor missing imagination may be copying local forms (catalog Inserts, SSIS, France).
Later, back in galleries, the question was how to be site specific in a gallery: transcending the white cube (catalog Wasserstand, Kunsverein Ingolstadt, Germany), copying the behavior of a local artist (catalog Local, Office d'Art Contemporain, Brussels), or work with artists and inhabitants of the neighborhood (catalog Éloge de la Fuite, Centre Culturel Bruegel, Brussels).
The context becoming a leading purpose, he had stories to tell around each work and each place. These stories or fictions are recorded in small movies with the installation as subject or pretext. These movies became part of the installations - that he continues to name sculptures - and are screened on site.
When not traveling for his work, Dessardo now resides in Belgium, in a small village. There, when he doesn't rest, he works on new sculpture-boats, and on drawings, making a logbook.
▶ STRATÉGIE (VERSION FRANÇAISE)
▶ SITE SPECIFIC SCULPTURES AND PUBLIC INSTALLATIONS