The Authentic Movement: Immersed in the Light of Keil Space

With its over 500 square meters, Keil Space is an artistic territory that challenges the physical perception of places. Its environment is permeated by an ethereal, oneiric atmosphere; its vast and dark spaces bring the observer into an enveloping vastness that stimulates the mind and pervades the senses. The setting transforms every step and every glance into a revelation of meaning, creating a dialogue between observer and observed and inviting deep reflection.

Many experts from various fields have crossed the threshold of Keil Space. Among them is Gianmarco Meucci, a psychologist and Gestalt psychotherapist specializing in hypnosis, the Enneagram, Tibetan meditation and bodywork. After experiencing Keil Space, Gianmarco wrote a text that, both analytically and creatively, navigates the meanings of the experiential topography of Keil Space, as well as its therapeutic aspects. Below is the full text written by the psychotherapist:

“In the 1920s, the Berlin Gestalt movement (or Gestalt psychology, a German term that literally means ‘figure, form, or unified pattern’) sought to understand how the human mind unifies individual elements (shapes, colors, separate components) to interpret them as a single message. Gestalt psychologists identified a series of principles of visual perception that are still fundamental for visual designers today. In a world overloaded with signals, it is increasingly important to understand how the brain organizes information into groups with common characteristics. This premise is essential in defining the context from which I begin to recount the experience of the exhibition I attended.

One of the most important principles in Gestalt psychology is the relationship between figure and background: the object we focus on is only a part of the whole and defines the entire composition. The background is equally important because it provides the context in which the object exists. If we focus only on the figure, we lose the background. Conversely, if we focus solely on the background, we lose the subject. The key is to maintain a divided attention between figure and background, through a continuous dynamic that allows us to choose where to look and how it affects us.

In the First Generation Bronze, particularly in ”Lovers”, exactly this phenomenon occurs: depending on how you look at the sculptures, the effect changes. From one angle, they appear as a victim-perpetrator dynamic; from another, they seem like two lovers in a passionate embrace. This is a powerful metaphor in psychology — at the root of neurosis lies our tendency to focus on just one part of the narrative we tell about ourselves, which causes suffering as we identify too closely with our self-image. Having two different perspectives allows for dialogue and an opening between black and white, light and darkness.

In the Second Generation Bronze, the figure/background relationship dissolves, and sensory experience takes over, emphasizing the relationship between light and darkness. In psychology, this work opens the door to a broader concept linked to inner exploration and trust. The sculpture ”Sabre” — sharp, phallic, reaching upwards — evokes ancestral rites, initiations, unavoidable transitions, transformations and changes. To truly live, one must be ready to ‘die’ multiple times throughout life, embracing change to avoid unnecessary suffering. This sculpture recalls a knife’s cut through which light enters — a kind of ‘dark night of the soul’ (St. John of the Cross), a passage toward rebirth into true light. Ultimately, we are called to let the ego die in order to be authentic and connected to our true selves.

The final multisensory experience is the digestion of the two previous ones. This is the New Generation. Immersed in light, alone, we are reborn into color and experience the pleasure of calm. In psychology, this corresponds to the movement of the child exploring the world, full of joy and curiosity.