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Emotional Maieutics in creating Public Art: the “Butterfly Gate”
Full text linkThe “Porta delle farfalle” (Butterfly Gate) is a new monumental work of public art, approximately two kilometres long, that continues the “Porta della Bellezza” (Beauty Gate), which has been built and preserved for over a decade in Librino, a suburban district of the city of Catania. This project made use of an \u27emotional\u27 maieutic strategy: involving more than 15,000 people, practically no one in the community was left out.
This way each citizen played a role in the change that affected both the inhabitants and the territory through a remarkable example of cooperative public art.Personally involved in the artistic and urban process, residents became part of the work, recognising themselves in symbols that range from the historical roots of the area to popular icons and images aimed at redemption and dreams.The “Porta delle farfalle” (Butterfly Gate) is a new monumental work of public art, approximately two kilometres long, that continues the “Porta della Bellezza” (Beauty Gate), which has been built and preserved for over a decade in Librino, a suburban district of the city of Catania. This project made use of an \u27emotional\u27 maieutic strategy: involving more than 15,000 people, practically no one in the community was left out.
This way each citizen played a role in the change that affected both the inhabitants and the territory through a remarkable example of cooperative public art.Personally involved in the artistic and urban process, residents became part of the work, recognising themselves in symbols that range from the historical roots of the area to popular icons and images aimed at redemption and dreams
Introduction
Full text linkThis monographic section of volume 25 of Itinera stems largely from the discussions that took place during the two study days I organised on 13th and 14th. May 2021 at the Stensen Institute in Florence, entitled Ricerche in corso. These were planned on the occasion of the Moral Philosophy Seminars, held at the University of Florence, with the collaboration of Professor Maddalena Mazzocut-Mis and Professor Bruno Accarino, who were foundamental importance for these event, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them.
With the aim of continuing and enriching the debate of both days, this section not only brings together some of the contributions presented by the speakers, but it also aims to further involve other authors in the field of teratology, an area of study, which can seem somewhat impenetrable.The original title of the seminar “The Anatomical Monster” (the subtitle of which reads: “Figures of Irregularity, Mechanisms of Exclusion and Biological Naturalism”) evidently referred to the theme of so-called “monstrous births”.
The attempt was to make evident certain themes that run through the various contributions; starting from the definition of abnormal and pathological as deviations from the norm, we move on to delineate the field of unforeseen variations - anomalies, alterations, and abnormalities. We continue to the visual representation of monstrosity, its aesthetic form and its capacity to reveal exaggerated figures that break the monotony of “normality” by virtue of unexpected juxtapositions. This includes the monsters that populated Cabinets of Curiosities as much as circuses, later housed in the collections and on the anatomical tables of 18th- and 19th-century naturalists; the analysis of the present perception of the monster, aimed at its ambiguity, considered as a union of contrasting features that stand out against a horizon that leads back to otherness and difference. The result is a varied and polymorphous collection, within which the investigation of the prodigious, the marvellous and the monstrous loom transversally from every single essay.This monographic section of volume 25 of Itinera stems largely from the discussions that took place during the two study days I organised on 13th and 14th. May 2021 at the Stensen Institute in Florence, entitled Ricerche in corso. These were planned on the occasion of the Moral Philosophy Seminars, held at the University of Florence, with the collaboration of Professor Maddalena Mazzocut-Mis and Professor Bruno Accarino, who were foundamental importance for these event, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them.
With the aim of continuing and enriching the debate of both days, this section not only brings together some of the contributions presented by the speakers, but it also aims to further involve other authors in the field of teratology, an area of study, which can seem somewhat impenetrable.The original title of the seminar “The Anatomical Monster” (the subtitle of which reads: “Figures of Irregularity, Mechanisms of Exclusion and Biological Naturalism”) evidently referred to the theme of so-called “monstrous births”.
The attempt was to make evident certain themes that run through the various contributions; starting from the definition of abnormal and pathological as deviations from the norm, we move on to delineate the field of unforeseen variations - anomalies, alterations, and abnormalities. We continue to the visual representation of monstrosity, its aesthetic form and its capacity to reveal exaggerated figures that break the monotony of “normality” by virtue of unexpected juxtapositions. This includes the monsters that populated Cabinets of Curiosities as much as circuses, later housed in the collections and on the anatomical tables of 18th- and 19th-century naturalists; the analysis of the present perception of the monster, aimed at its ambiguity, considered as a union of contrasting features that stand out against a horizon that leads back to otherness and difference. The result is a varied and polymorphous collection, within which the investigation of the prodigious, the marvellous and the monstrous loom transversally from every single essay
La metafora considerata nei suoi molteplici usi
Full text linkMetaphor has often been seen as tightly associated with both aesthetics and cognition, as well as with other aesthetic and cognitive phenomena such as imagination, symbol, allegory, analogy and simile. This article offers a theory of metaphor that accounts for such aesthetic and cognitive associations. The theory is based on a suitably interpreted version of a tool originally developed in an epistemic context, viz. Floridi and Sanders’ method of abstraction.Metaphor has often been seen as tightly associated with both aesthetics and cognition, as well as with other aesthetic and cognitive phenomena such as imagination, symbol, allegory, analogy and simile. This article offers a theory of metaphor that accounts for such aesthetic and cognitive associations. The theory is based on a suitably interpreted version of a tool originally developed in an epistemic context, viz. Floridi and Sanders’ method of abstraction
L’enigma dell’ombra: l’ombra portata come misura e presenza dell’altro
Full text linkShadow, a physical phenomenon that we experience every day and is intuitively easy to understand, does not seem to hide great mysteries. However, through the study of texts and works of Western figurative art, a different reality linked to its use can be observed. In fact, the presence of shadow in Western art and representation is profoundly discontinuous and non-linear, and it does not become more frequent with a greater mastery of representation techniques. There are authors who were knowledgeable about and studied the phenomenon in detail but nonetheless advised against its use or avoided it altogether.
For these reasons, we have decided to delve into the use and representation of shadow in figurative art and its significance, focusing specifically on two distinct artistic techniques. The objective of this article is to demonstrate: 1) that the use of shadow in figurative art and representation is not simply a coincidental fact or a mere attempt to imitate reality, but rather reveals a specific conscious intention of the artist to represent; 2) that there is a difference in the use of cast shadow, particularly regarding the presence or absence of the subject casting the shadow within the framed and represented scene.
To support this thesis, an interdisciplinary analysis of two examples is conducted, one from painting and one from cinema. However, due to the vastness of the time span and examples, it was necessary to narrow down the scope of research by limiting the analysis to two examples from the 20th century in painting and cinema: Giorgio de Chirico (1888 – 1978) and Ingmar Bergman (1918 – 2007).Shadow, a physical phenomenon that we experience every day and is intuitively easy to understand, does not seem to hide great mysteries. However, through the study of texts and works of Western figurative art, a different reality linked to its use can be observed. In fact, the presence of shadow in Western art and representation is profoundly discontinuous and non-linear, and it does not become more frequent with a greater mastery of representation techniques. There are authors who were knowledgeable about and studied the phenomenon in detail but nonetheless advised against its use or avoided it altogether.
For these reasons, we have decided to delve into the use and representation of shadow in figurative art and its significance, focusing specifically on two distinct artistic techniques. The objective of this article is to demonstrate: 1) that the use of shadow in figurative art and representation is not simply a coincidental fact or a mere attempt to imitate reality, but rather reveals a specific conscious intention of the artist to represent; 2) that there is a difference in the use of cast shadow, particularly regarding the presence or absence of the subject casting the shadow within the framed and represented scene.
To support this thesis, an interdisciplinary analysis of two examples is conducted, one from painting and one from cinema. However, due to the vastness of the time span and examples, it was necessary to narrow down the scope of research by limiting the analysis to two examples from the 20th century in painting and cinema: Giorgio de Chirico (1888 – 1978) and Ingmar Bergman (1918 – 2007)
Earth Collective. Natural Conditions for a Transindividual Politics
Full text linkThe concept of a transindividual relation has been articulated in order to resolve the problem of the unity of individuals in association with others. More particularly, it has been offered as a route for overcoming a disjunctive tendency whereby either individuality is lost to an encompassing collective, or the substance of the individual renders the collective accidental, optional, or a mere semblance. Transindividuality thus offers a way to think individuals and collectives thereof as relative, mutually dependent and constitutive, whilst maintaining a separation between the two. Equally, it affords a conception of a collective which is more than the sum of its parts, or an arbitrary aggregate of beings.
Whilst this abstract description of transindividuality might appear apt for ecological or earth systems analysis, to date this has not been attempted. Neither of the two most significant thinkers of transindividuality, Gilbert Simondon and Étienne Balibar, broach the question of a natural transindividual at any length, nor do the various monographs and special editions of journals which have been dedicated to extending and criticising the former authors’ analysis of transindividuality. As such, this article addresses this lacuna through discussion of the problem of natural transindividuality, claiming that mutual dependency and constitution between individuals and collectives pertains to geophysical and vital relations as much as it does to human social relations.The concept of a transindividual relation has been articulated in order to resolve the problem of the unity of individuals in association with others. More particularly, it has been offered as a route for overcoming a disjunctive tendency whereby either individuality is lost to an encompassing collective, or the substance of the individual renders the collective accidental, optional, or a mere semblance. Transindividuality thus offers a way to think individuals and collectives thereof as relative, mutually dependent and constitutive, whilst maintaining a separation between the two. Equally, it affords a conception of a collective which is more than the sum of its parts, or an arbitrary aggregate of beings.
Whilst this abstract description of transindividuality might appear apt for ecological or earth systems analysis, to date this has not been attempted. Neither of the two most significant thinkers of transindividuality, Gilbert Simondon and Étienne Balibar, broach the question of a natural transindividual at any length, nor do the various monographs and special editions of journals which have been dedicated to extending and criticising the former authors’ analysis of transindividuality. As such, this article addresses this lacuna through discussion of the problem of natural transindividuality, claiming that mutual dependency and constitution between individuals and collectives pertains to geophysical and vital relations as much as it does to human social relations
Genetic Monsters: Loss of Innocence and Decision Making in Sleepaway Camp and XXY
Full text linkSleepaway Camp and XXY are two films that represent monstrosity from a genetic point of view. In this paper, I will analyze all the sexualities presented in both movies through the queer notion, and criticize the barriers imposed by heteronormative power to our un- derstanding of sexuality and the world, to fully understand the characters’ behaviors. This frame study will be also useful to acknowledge how repressions work, and of course how two movies with diverse style of filmmaking and from different contexts and times can assimilate those supposed monstrosities according to their own rules.Sleepaway Camp and XXY are two films that represent monstrosity from a genetic point of view. In this paper, I will analyze all the sexualities presented in both movies through the queer notion, and criticize the barriers imposed by heteronormative power to our un- derstanding of sexuality and the world, to fully understand the characters’ behaviors. This frame study will be also useful to acknowledge how repressions work, and of course how two movies with diverse style of filmmaking and from different contexts and times can assimilate those supposed monstrosities according to their own rules
Performative Forms of Architecture: from Real Space to Virtual Space
Full text linkIn this paper we will relate the term «performance» to what, in different ways, can be considered the components of architecture: the project, the body of the dweller, the space itself, the virtual models. The different ways in which each of these elements can «perform» will be analysed in the paragraphs: (1) digital performalism, which redefines the form of the project with new tools; (2) bodies as performative agents in the architectural space; (3) architecture as a place for artistic performances, which can be defined as a performed object, but also as a performing subject; (4) and finally, virtual space, where architecture finds many possibilities of expression, in relation to the bodily performance of the user.In this paper we will relate the term «performance» to what, in different ways, can be considered the components of architecture: the project, the body of the dweller, the space itself, the virtual models. The different ways in which each of these elements can «perform» will be analysed in the paragraphs: (1) digital performalism, which redefines the form of the project with new tools; (2) bodies as performative agents in the architectural space; (3) architecture as a place for artistic performances, which can be defined as a performed object, but also as a performing subject; (4) and finally, virtual space, where architecture finds many possibilities of expression, in relation to the bodily performance of the user
Ri-posare. Per un’ermeneutica dell’appartenenza in Merleau-Ponty, Dardel e Berque
Full text linkWhat happens when consciousness fails? What happens to the connection with our experiences when we abandon ourselves to torpor, when “the light goes out”? Merleau- Ponty answered these questions in his course on Passivity, commenting on the status of the unconscious, sleep, dreams and memory. These are modalities through which the subject discovers a renewed adherence, a deeper sense of belonging to the world, and a peculiar ontological inherence or confidence. In the lethargic reabsorption, Merleau- Ponty so read Proust in The Problem of the Word, the sleeper rediscovers a carnal past with an enigmatic character, for which the anchorage to the stasis of rest, already personifies, the virtualities of a project, a specific “kinetic initiation”, the attribute of an ‘imminent movement’. It is from these intentions that one can trace the genesis of Dardel’s reflection on the nature of inhabiting, of human existence confined to the Earth. To inhabit a surface geographically is first and foremost to “rely, through sleep, on what lies (...) beneath us: the base on which our subjectivity folds”. To exist means “[re]starting from there (...) in order to untie from the surrounding world the ‘objects’ to which (...) our attention will be directed”. Starting from the Berquean assumption according to which the “spatiality of existence”, in all its meanings, “is movement and not -, conversely, motionless, and therefore sterile, - rootedness”, as also attested by Barbaras in L’appartenance, this essay highlights the essential character of ‘coexistence’ in which men and the world in its geographical consistency participate. It, therefore, investigates the conditions, the conjugations, as said, ‘terrestrial’, by means of which the ‘inner geography’ is articulated - and therefore, in the same way, disarticulated - as past, repetition and the creative newness, the future of which is the indispensable presupposition, is the ‘basis’; and the work of man, the implication of which ties his destiny to the ‘moving extension’ that is the Earth. This study concludes with the recognition of a twofold but unique, singular movement within existence, which alternates exhibition and withdrawal, vital élan and relapse into materiality, according to the coordinates of a “reality that is made through that which is undone”.What happens when consciousness fails? What happens to the connection with our experiences when we abandon ourselves to torpor, when “the light goes out”? Merleau- Ponty answered these questions in his course on Passivity, commenting on the status of the unconscious, sleep, dreams and memory. These are modalities through which the subject discovers a renewed adherence, a deeper sense of belonging to the world, and a peculiar ontological inherence or confidence. In the lethargic reabsorption, Merleau- Ponty so read Proust in The Problem of the Word, the sleeper rediscovers a carnal past with an enigmatic character, for which the anchorage to the stasis of rest, already personifies, the virtualities of a project, a specific “kinetic initiation”, the attribute of an ‘imminent movement’. It is from these intentions that one can trace the genesis of Dardel’s reflection on the nature of inhabiting, of human existence confined to the Earth. To inhabit a surface geographically is first and foremost to “rely, through sleep, on what lies (...) beneath us: the base on which our subjectivity folds”. To exist means “[re]starting from there (...) in order to untie from the surrounding world the ‘objects’ to which (...) our attention will be directed”. Starting from the Berquean assumption according to which the “spatiality of existence”, in all its meanings, “is movement and not -, conversely, motionless, and therefore sterile, - rootedness”, as also attested by Barbaras in L’appartenance, this essay highlights the essential character of ‘coexistence’ in which men and the world in its geographical consistency participate. It, therefore, investigates the conditions, the conjugations, as said, ‘terrestrial’, by means of which the ‘inner geography’ is articulated - and therefore, in the same way, disarticulated - as past, repetition and the creative newness, the future of which is the indispensable presupposition, is the ‘basis’; and the work of man, the implication of which ties his destiny to the ‘moving extension’ that is the Earth. This study concludes with the recognition of a twofold but unique, singular movement within existence, which alternates exhibition and withdrawal, vital élan and relapse into materiality, according to the coordinates of a “reality that is made through that which is undone”
A chicken like a Leviathan? Monsters from a transgenic art
Full text linkWith his work, the Belgian artist-scientist Koen Vanmechelen poses a challenge to Aesthetics, which does not have the parameters to evaluate it. His artistic experience, which I would drop under the new name of Hybrid-art or Genetic-art, comes from a studied genetic manipulation of animals. If from an artistic point of view the results may apparently have data of continuity with Flemish culture, the Wunderkammers aesthetic effect and experiences such as those of Damien Hirst, the type of scientific research that accompanies it is unique. Vanmechelen, in fact, taxidermizes animals (mainly chickens) born from crosses not previously existing in Nature. The DNA of the animals born from these crosses, now in the XXIIth generation, is part of the “Cosmopolittan Chicken Project” started in 1999 and is aimed at demonstrating that greater biodiversity favors the improvement of the species. Upon their death, these “unique animals” or monsters become works of art in compositions that, historically, we would have framed in the aesthetic terms of the monstrous or the grotesque.With his work, the Belgian artist-scientist Koen Vanmechelen poses a challenge to Aesthetics, which does not have the parameters to evaluate it. His artistic experience, which I would drop under the new name of Hybrid-art or Genetic-art, comes from a studied genetic manipulation of animals. If from an artistic point of view the results may apparently have data of continuity with Flemish culture, the Wunderkammers aesthetic effect and experiences such as those of Damien Hirst, the type of scientific research that accompanies it is unique. Vanmechelen, in fact, taxidermizes animals (mainly chickens) born from crosses not previously existing in Nature. The DNA of the animals born from these crosses, now in the XXIIth generation, is part of the “Cosmopolittan Chicken Project” started in 1999 and is aimed at demonstrating that greater biodiversity favors the improvement of the species. Upon their death, these “unique animals” or monsters become works of art in compositions that, historically, we would have framed in the aesthetic terms of the monstrous or the grotesque
Theoretical perspectives: Olafur Eliasson’s works for an ecologic art
Full text linkBeginning with the work of Olafur Eliasson, with particular reference to the recent exhibition “Trembling Horizons” but not limited to it, a number of works representative of an artistic vision that might be called eco-logical are analyzed. Not only by explicitly thematizing the issue of the environmental crisis, Eliasson\u27s works seem to materially express the demands of theorists who question how art can actively respond to the need for a shift in outlook that characterizes current events. Starting from the idea of art as praxis, which allows the viewer to regard himself or herself and to place himself or herself in relation to what surrounds us – human and non-human – Eliasson\u27s works act on the intrinsic objecthood of the work itself by creating a relationship with otherness and datity. They generate, therefore, a feeling of proximity, which concretizes a meaning of creativity in a transformative and site-specific sense; they promote an eco-logic that has its basis in a nomadic and depotentiated vision of subjectivity, engendering a feeling of interconnectedness and care. It will be argued in this paper the need to rethink art in these terms by hypothesizing a particular efficacy of some works that actively work in public space: places where the split between nature and culture has taken place, urban and public space are privileged contexts to actively promote the overcoming of this fracture and generate ethically responsible, already intrinsically ecological subjects.Beginning with the work of Olafur Eliasson, with particular reference to the recent exhibition “Trembling Horizons” but not limited to it, a number of works representative of an artistic vision that might be called eco-logical are analyzed. Not only by explicitly thematizing the issue of the environmental crisis, Eliasson\u27s works seem to materially express the demands of theorists who question how art can actively respond to the need for a shift in outlook that characterizes current events. Starting from the idea of art as praxis, which allows the viewer to regard himself or herself and to place himself or herself in relation to what surrounds us – human and non-human – Eliasson\u27s works act on the intrinsic objecthood of the work itself by creating a relationship with otherness and datity. They generate, therefore, a feeling of proximity, which concretizes a meaning of creativity in a transformative and site-specific sense; they promote an eco-logic that has its basis in a nomadic and depotentiated vision of subjectivity, engendering a feeling of interconnectedness and care. It will be argued in this paper the need to rethink art in these terms by hypothesizing a particular efficacy of some works that actively work in public space: places where the split between nature and culture has taken place, urban and public space are privileged contexts to actively promote the overcoming of this fracture and generate ethically responsible, already intrinsically ecological subjects