'Nespolo's reality does not affirm itself as an immediate revelation, enlightening and all-encompassing; rather, it appears like a thin, intermediate zone halfway between the singularisation of the object and its direct appropriation.' (Pierre Restany, quoted in 'Ugo Nespolo and the critique of practical reason' Macchine e oggetti condizionali, exh. cat. Galleria Schwarz, Milan, 1968).