Arriving at Stazione Termini, Rome’s central train station, this is the scenario we found.

Conflict at Stazione Termini, Rome

During the last few days students have been heavily proclaiming their dissent to Italy’s crisis in culture, economics and, specifically, education.
Situation is really complicated over here, in something that any external observer wouldn’t have any difficulty in defining a mediatic regime, or even a soft dictatorship.
Italy’s culture has been shaped through 20+ years of television, creating a ubiquitous numb, stereotyped, passive, crude middle class that is naturally inclined towards lament to the things they don’t like in society, envy of power, total engagement with the spectacle and complete egocentrism, absence of historical memory or the ability to blissfully look aside when things are harsh, but not for them.
This is the situation.
And it constitutes an incredibly fertile humus for this kind of power. Working on desire, imaginaries, visual seduction.

We were more than 1 hour late in Stazione Termini today. And during the wait we saw students protesting against all this.

This form of protest does not go anywhere. We know it. Masses of people screaming and protesting. But tomorrow there will be leaders once again, power once again, hierarchy once again. There is hierarchy now, inside the protest. And people who will make a career out of it.

This will not go anywhere.

But it’s right. There has to be a protest. Mouths must open, legs must walk out of houses, arms must wave flags and megaphones.

Against this power that is able to change information, to be vulgar, sleazy, filthy, who is able to lie and who has the power and resources to both pay and wait for things to happen, in a perpetual state of corruption, cognitive violence and creation of instrumental imaginaries and languages.

We were really late today. But it was worth it.

and now, on to Publicamp, in Puglia, in the south of italy. Where multiple interesting things are happening. Where some people actually feel they can call their land “a land of opportunity”.

Great expectations. stay tuned.

Loving the Crisis

We presented “Loving the Crisis” an nstallation in which the characters of “Les Amants” by Magritte interpret the global flows of the discussion of the international crisis with their desire to kiss each other.

a full report can be found on ArtsBlog

Andreas Jacobs - Nictoglobe

This time it’s the turn for Andreas Jacobs of Nictoglobe. He is turning out to be quite an interesting person to collaborate with.  We just had the chance to get to know each other by collaborating on a series of things, and he is a marvelous example of how physical research on the territories, on social practices, and on the peculiarities of human beings can turn to interesting experimentations in the digital world.

In his contribution to Interviewing teh Crisis he tells us about the origins of his artistic practices and uses them to describe scenarios that are politically and socially relevant to the analysis of the current (and continuous) state of crisis.

read it on the Interviewing the Crisis website:

Interviewing the Crisis: Andreas Jacobs – Nictoglobe [ENGLISH]

Interviewing the Crisis: Andreas Jacobs – Nictoglobe [ITALIAN]

Carlo Infante - Performing Media

This time it’s Carlo Infante (Performing Media) talking about the scenarios of the possible futures from his point of view, deeply involved in innovation and a socially sensible view on technology. Arts and evolution, in a truly evolved perspective.

Read the interview

Interviewing the Crisis: Carlo Infante – Performing Media [ENGLISH]

Interviewing the Crisis: Carlo Infante – Performing Media [ITALIANO]

wabear

Just back from Turin, I just had the chance to keep up with the Interviewing the Crisis project

We already started publishing the second round of interviews, starting with Carlo Infante, Andreas Jacobs and Warbear.

As usual, the interviews are first published on ArtsBlog and then translated and collected on the project’s website.

The first one we are publishing in its complete form is the interview with Francesco “Warbear” Macarone Palmieri

watch out in the next few days for the other ones.

Art & Love VI at Villa Capriglio

While keeping busy with the launch and communication of the RomaEuropaFAKEFactory and keeping the interviews on the international crisis going with Interviewing the Crisis we will get relaxed a bit at the Art & Love VI that will be held at Villa Capriglio on February 14th

more news soon…