Almost going to Documenta 13

I am super super excited at the moment, a week from now I will be going to Kassel, Germany for the Documenta 13, me along with some fellow students will be working on the projects of  artists, and participating in the educational program of the event.  In preparation I am reading some texts by Carolyn Cristov-Bakargiev. Most of the texts you find in the dOCUMENTA (13) notebook series 100 Notes - 100 Thoughts.  I really can not wait to go. 

Here is the press release from NABA's site:

NABA is among the 14 Universities in the world involved in dOCUMENTA (13), an international event, opened in 1955 by Arnold Bode and among the most important events in the contemporary art scenery, which takes place in Kassel every five-years. This thirteenth edition is curated by Carolyn Christov – Bakagiev.

The first and second year students of the NABA Two-year MA in Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies will take part to “The Maybe Education and Public Programs”, an educational format that will last for all the 100 days of the event.

NABA professors and students will participate to dOCUMENTA (13) with several projects:

“AND AND AND”, an experimental public program of artist-run meetings curated by Renè Gabri and Ayreen Anastas, with the participation of Chiara Balsamo, Filippo Bisagni, Eleonora Castagna, Claudia Castaneda, Marco Ceroni, Irene Coppola, Gaetano Cunsolo, Lilia Di Bella, Sinan Eren Erk, Roberta Garieri, Edna Gee, Elena Malara, Giulia Mengozzi, Laura Messa, Vittoria Pavesi, Giulia Polenta, Barbara Presinska, Jacopo Rinaldi, Jessica Rucinque Arbelaez and Stefano Serretta;

And here is the link to AndAndAnd .

Caro Giacomo 2012

The week in Perdaxius flew by so quickly. It turned out to be a wonderful experience for me, getting to know artists, making friends and eating well in the country side. I also had a chance to experience the creativity and enthusiasm of children, hear a launeddas and paint for the sheer joy of it. It turned out to be an improvisational woodwork workshop. Thanks to Cherimus and the artists Yassine Balbzioui, Derek Maria Francesco Di Fabio, Michele Gabriele, Andrea Rossi  and Matteo Rubbi.Also Carlo Spiga and  Beatrice Bailet who joined us later in the week. See some videos here. Read more on Cherimus site. Here are a few photos and below a video I made for the party we made the last Sunday.

Caro Giacomo 2012

Caro Giacomo 2012

Caro Giacomo celebrates its fifth anniversary.

A strange lab in the south west of Sardinia, where no one quite knows what to expect.

From 22 to 26 July Perdaxius explodes: to destroy and then to rebuild. One never creates anything, but it expands like gas-filled balloons.

One should try to be atomic and leap out from all protective membranes: I would like to make it new enable to think of it differently; starting from its archaeology ~ I want to do it again!

Dear Dear Caro, if I think of it by myself this is a flipper rumbling with thoughts. To share experiences sounds much better. DMFDF

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Caro Giacomo compie cinque anni.

Uno strano laboratorio nel sud ovest sardo, dove chi arriva non sa mai bene che gli capita.

Dal 22 al 26 luglio Perdaxius esplode, rimontare dopo aver demolito, non si costruisce mai niente, ci s’espande come palloni che si riempiono di gas.

Pretendere d’essere atomici e schizzare via da ogni membrana protettiva: vorrei farlo nuovo per poterlo pensare diversamente, dalla sua archeologia ~ voglio farlo di nuovo!

Caro Caro Caro, a pensarci da solo è un flipper di rimbombi di pensieri, condividere esperienze suona meglio. DMFDF

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Festa di San Giacomo e Sant’Anna in via Nazionale, Perdaxius (CI)

Con Yassine Balbzioui, Derek Maria Francesco Di Fabio, Michele Gabriele, Edna Gee, Andrea Rossi e Matteo Rubbi

See Cherimus.net

All the buzz: M^C^O

Image above from MACAO page on Facebook

I paid a visit to the new space M.A.C.A.O this week to see what all the hype is about. M.A.C.A.O is an abandoned building in Milan originally called Torre Galfa owned by some corporate (don't remember who) and it was "taken over" or occupied as they say (I hate that word - it is like the new key phrase used by all trendy liberal associations) by cultural workers and young artists to convert into a experimental cultural centre. It  follows in the current trend of movements (Occupy Wall street etc) taking over capitalistic spaces for a more social use.

Radical chic is all the rage these days so it is not surprising that people want to be apart of this movement, but what is nice to observe is the enthusiasm and hope that such a take over represent for people. There are tons of people working in the space renovating it, fixing the floors, making a garden and bringing furniture and things that can be used in the space, all doing it without receiving any money for it. Something new like this attracts a lot of different people and creates a space for experimentation and exchange. It provides what is needed perhaps as a catalyst for other actions. Another thing to observe how they used social media from the start of this project to interact with public and create hype and audience. 

The space itself is amazing and gives a lot to the imagination, I am sure many artists (me included)  and curators would love to utilise the space itself for installation. As a new experiments go, it is of course chaotic and probably doesn't yet offer the possibility to do something with more body. However already between the chaos a lot is going on, there were spontaneous talks by Nobel prize laureate Mario Fo, concerts by musicians, and also open lessons by universities taking place in there. 

It will be interesting to see what happens there. Hopefully the company owning the building will not try to take it back and hopefully M.A.C.A.O can retain its independence. They (or us) will also have to at some point forget the hype and make projects with more body that can add a little bit more to just being a cool Facebook topic. And we must not forget that it can become absorbed by the systems it tries to defy or it itself can become an institution. Nevertheless, at the moment it is a blank slate with possibility and that is a beautiful thing.

To see  more about M.A.C.A.O visit the Facebook page or webpage.

I also attended a talk held on the 10th floor, led by Bert Theis and presentation by Isola Art Centre on their projects and how cultural spaces such as M.A.C.A.O can  affect or improve a neighbourhood.

IN SU I PRÀA - Press Release.

IN SU I PRÀA  is an event that brings works made by the young artists of the collective Room 47 in the public space of the city, the neighbourhood Isola in Milan. These works will be set up and exhibited only for one day, Sunday 6 May 2012, running along with the annual neighbourhood festival organised by the association Isola Pepe Verde.


IN SU I PRÀA is an invite to the inhabitants of Isola and to everyone who wishes to participate, to reclaim the public space from its current state of uselessness and anonymity.

Room 47 is a group of  participants in the world of arts that shares the experience of the masters in Visual Arts and Curatorial studies at N A B A  -  Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano.

IN SU I PRÀA /R47  with the contribution of Bert Theis

Event coordinators and press office:  Claudia Caldara, Martina Valla

Text  :  Curatorial Team

Graphics :  Federica Clerici

To view more information go to Room 47 or like our Facebook page. Click here to view the location on google maps.