Saturation, neglect and forgetfulness - pathologies of the contemporary times, hungry for novelty and disinterested in the consequences of its incessant updating - represent an internal contradiction in a society oriented towards the constant pursuit of beauty. By chasing aesthetics and novelty without balancing the forces required to achieve them, the road to progress shuts in on itself and does not care for what it leaves behind as it advances. Fragments of the city thus remain excluded from ever-changing new topologies, and there draw voids in which the echo of silence becomes more deafening as the distance separating them from the centres of interest of city life increases. The disused place thus becomes a protagonist in the urban landscape, bringing with it cultural and socio-economic discomforts and problems that the ever-increasing trend of land consumption only increases. (Granata E., 2021) Non-invasive but at the same time intensively communicative design actions can insert themselves into the vicious circle of disinterest-abandonment-degradation and disrupt it, restoring a role for spaces that retain a strong potential value, and thus bringing the collective attention back into focus through urban reactivation practices that are gentle but far reaching. The research process hereby presented identifies intrinsic values in abandoned buildings and areas, and brings them to light through designed incursions into the absence of function, aimed at modifying the collective vision of empty and neglected 'containers' through active and reactivating contents. This is how art, which has always been able to attract gazes and trigger emotions, comes to pose as a cure for the amnesia of the contemporary. Having acknowledged and de-fused the internal dysfunctions of the artistic field itself - which is often too institutional, elitist, unintelligible and self-referential - creative practice and the art world in general can become accelerators for urban re-activation. Simplification, dissemination and participation thus become key actions of the 'Via di Mezzo' formula, applied to the city in a punctual and interconnected manner: an itinerant circuit of devices distributed in points of urban void to re-inhabit them and transform them into operational bases for the ignition and subsequent propagation of new attitudes and interests. A series of colourful new inhabitants of abandonment capable of entering into a relationship with the place that welcomes them and with those who explore it, of narrating the impenetrable world of art and activating new gestures, re-activating old spaces through them. Institutional barriers are blurred through participation and direct encounters, and difficulties of understanding are alleviated through the proposal of three-dimensional reworking of simplified concepts. Thus content and container take on a new value through their dialogue: the dynamics of art are narrated and made perceptible to a broader public, in places that are freed from the elitist exclusivity that easily relegates it to the role of costly interest for the few, and the places themselves in the encounter with the 'nobility' of the new host shed their dark and repulsive clothes of urban surplus. (Crespi L, 2018) The 'Via di Mezzo', is thus the bridge between two apparently distant worlds: the inaccessibility of the degraded place and the unattainability of the art institution meet in a compromise without renunciation, a communion of interests and attentions capable of smoothing out the rejecting edges present on both sides and thus converting fear into curiosity, darkness into color.
Saturazione, abbandono e dimenticanza, patologie del contemporaneo affamato di novità e disinteressato alle conseguenze del suo incessante aggiornamento, rappresentano una contraddizione interna in una società indirizzata verso la costante ricerca del bello. Inseguendo l’estetica e la novità, senza però bilanciare le forze necessarie per raggiungerle, la strada verso il progresso si chiude su sè stessa e non si cura di ciò che si lascia alle spalle avanzando. Frammenti di città rimangono così esclusi da sempre nuove topologie in continua evoluzione, e vi tracciano vuoti in cui l’eco del silenzio si fa più assordante all’aumentare della distanza che li separa dai centri di interesse della vita cittadina. Il luogo dismesso diventa così un soggetto protagonista nel panorama urbano, portando con sè disagi e problematiche culturali e socio-economiche che il continuo aumento della tendenza al consumo di suolo non fa che accrescere. (Granata E., 2021) Azioni progettuali non invasive ma allo stesso tempo intensamente comunicative possono inserirsi nel circolo vizioso disinteresse-abbandono-degrado e interromperlo, restituendo un ruolo a spazi che conservano un forte valore potenziale, e portando così l’attenzione collettiva a ri-centrare il proprio fuoco attraverso pratiche di riattivazione urbana lievi ma capaci di arrivare in profondità. Il processo di ricerca qui proposto rileva valori intrinsechi in edifici e luoghi in stato di abbandono e li riporta in luce attraverso incursioni progettate nell’assenza di funzione, mirate a modificare la visione collettiva di “contenitori” vuoti e dimenticati attraverso contenuti attivi e ri-attivanti. È così che l’arte, da sempre in grado di attrarre sguardi ed innescare emozioni, arriva a porsi come cura per l’amnesia del contemporaneo. Riconosciute e disinnescate le disfunzioni interne allo stesso ambito artistico - spesso troppo istituzionale, elitario, inintelligibile e autoreferenziale - la pratica creativa e il mondo dell’arte in generale possono trasformarsi in acceleratori per la ri-attivazione urbana. Semplificazione, diffusione e partecipazione, diventano così azioni chiave della formula di “Via di Mezzo”, applicate al tessuto della città in modo puntuale e interconnesso: un circuito itinerante di dispositivi disseminati nei punti di vuoto cittadino per ri-abitarli e trasformarli nelle basi operative per l’innesco e la successiva propagazione di nuovi atteggiamenti e interessi. Una serie di colorati nuovi abitanti dell’abbandono capaci di entrare in relazione con il luogo che li accoglie e con chi lo esplora, di raccontare l’impenetrabile mondo dell’arte e di attivare nuovi gesti, ri-attivando vecchi spazi attraverso questi ultimi. Le barriere istituzionali si sfumano attraverso la partecipazione e l’incontro diretto, e le difficoltà di comprensione si alleviano con la proposta di ri-elaborazioni tridimensionali di concetti semplificati. Così contenuto e contenitore assumono un nuovo valore grazie al loro dialogo: le dinamiche dell’arte vengono raccontate e rese percepibili a pubblici più ampi, in luoghi che si sottraggono dall’esclusività elitaria che la relegano facilmente al ruolo di costoso interesse per pochi, e i luoghi stessi nell’incontro con la “nobiltà” del nuovo ospite svestono i panni scuri e allontananti di avanzo urbano. (Crespi L., 2018) La “Via di mezzo” è dunque il ponte tra due mondi apparentemente distanti: l’inaccessibilità del luogo degradato e l’irraggiungibilità dell’istituzione “arte”, si incontrano in un compromesso senza rinunce, una comunione di interessi e attenzioni in grado di limare gli spigoli respingenti presenti da entrambi i lati e così convertire il timore in curiosità, il buio in colore.
Via di Mezzo : arte contro l'abbandono, ri-equilibrio per la ri-attivazione
Antonelli, Francesco
2021/2022
Abstract
Saturation, neglect and forgetfulness - pathologies of the contemporary times, hungry for novelty and disinterested in the consequences of its incessant updating - represent an internal contradiction in a society oriented towards the constant pursuit of beauty. By chasing aesthetics and novelty without balancing the forces required to achieve them, the road to progress shuts in on itself and does not care for what it leaves behind as it advances. Fragments of the city thus remain excluded from ever-changing new topologies, and there draw voids in which the echo of silence becomes more deafening as the distance separating them from the centres of interest of city life increases. The disused place thus becomes a protagonist in the urban landscape, bringing with it cultural and socio-economic discomforts and problems that the ever-increasing trend of land consumption only increases. (Granata E., 2021) Non-invasive but at the same time intensively communicative design actions can insert themselves into the vicious circle of disinterest-abandonment-degradation and disrupt it, restoring a role for spaces that retain a strong potential value, and thus bringing the collective attention back into focus through urban reactivation practices that are gentle but far reaching. The research process hereby presented identifies intrinsic values in abandoned buildings and areas, and brings them to light through designed incursions into the absence of function, aimed at modifying the collective vision of empty and neglected 'containers' through active and reactivating contents. This is how art, which has always been able to attract gazes and trigger emotions, comes to pose as a cure for the amnesia of the contemporary. Having acknowledged and de-fused the internal dysfunctions of the artistic field itself - which is often too institutional, elitist, unintelligible and self-referential - creative practice and the art world in general can become accelerators for urban re-activation. Simplification, dissemination and participation thus become key actions of the 'Via di Mezzo' formula, applied to the city in a punctual and interconnected manner: an itinerant circuit of devices distributed in points of urban void to re-inhabit them and transform them into operational bases for the ignition and subsequent propagation of new attitudes and interests. A series of colourful new inhabitants of abandonment capable of entering into a relationship with the place that welcomes them and with those who explore it, of narrating the impenetrable world of art and activating new gestures, re-activating old spaces through them. Institutional barriers are blurred through participation and direct encounters, and difficulties of understanding are alleviated through the proposal of three-dimensional reworking of simplified concepts. Thus content and container take on a new value through their dialogue: the dynamics of art are narrated and made perceptible to a broader public, in places that are freed from the elitist exclusivity that easily relegates it to the role of costly interest for the few, and the places themselves in the encounter with the 'nobility' of the new host shed their dark and repulsive clothes of urban surplus. (Crespi L, 2018) The 'Via di Mezzo', is thus the bridge between two apparently distant worlds: the inaccessibility of the degraded place and the unattainability of the art institution meet in a compromise without renunciation, a communion of interests and attentions capable of smoothing out the rejecting edges present on both sides and thus converting fear into curiosity, darkness into color.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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Via di Mezzo. Arte contro l'abbandono, ri-equilibrio per la ri-attivazione_FrancescoAntonelli.pdf
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/190427