Edgar Morin - Sull’estetica - Raffaello Cortina Editore

Secondo la maggioranza certamente non silenziosa viviamo in un mondo pieno di bellezza. Che poi il centro nevralgico di questo ( finto ) culto estetico risieda nell’ultima novità tecnologica pare essere una cosa ormai universalmente consolidata. In realtà ormai tutto è una ricerca di bellezza per dare un senso ad un esistere che cerca metafisiche consolatorie che indirizzino una vita che ha il suo senso solo nel non possederlo. Il profitto inoltre cerca continuamente nell'estetica un viatico di appeal per vendere meglio.

Edgar Morin - Sull’estetica - Raffaello Cortina Editore

Secondo Edgar Morin l'estetica sostiene la parte meno materialistica del vivere. La medesima emozione provata davanti ad un'opera d'arte non è certamente universalizzabile. Tale impressione ci può trasformare, anche dietro una parvenza di magia o mistero. I concetti di bello e brutto si sono poi circonfusi, creando nuove derive del genere. Un nichlismo estetizzante occulta poi l'etica nell'estetica. Ora, anche tra gli addetti ai lavori, un'opera vale solo per quanto è stata venduta. Pure gli artisti che vanno per la maggiore si adeguano a tale modalità. In realtà tutto non ha la possibilità di raggiungere il successo perchè certi intermediari hanno un potere stratosferico. Nonostante questa ricerca generalizzata del profitto esistono sacche di resistenza. In arte, secondo l'autore, ci si eleva ma, allo stesso tempo, ci s'immerge nella più profonda umanità. Questo dualismo, di matrice sciamanica, è presente negli stati creativi. Davanti a certe opere noi proviamo uno " stato poetico " che oltrepassa l'esperienza estetica. Certi autori inoltre hanno lanciato con la loro arte messaggi all'umanità. La fotografia rappresenta un doppio del referente e tale riferimento si ritrova anche in letteratura e poesia.

Il cinema continua a ricrearsi incessantemente, s'interfaccia copiosamente con altre estetiche e si pone certamente come prototipo di arte totale. Anche in tali visioni siamo talmente sdoppiati al punto che l'emotività può arrivare a farsi sentire prepotentemente. La pittura è divenuta invece sempre più una ricerca per palati economicamente avvantaggiati, mentre la musica, anche quella più popolare, ha un potere ipnotico che ce la fa rimembrare per tanto tempo. Si può perciò affermare che l'arte è la compagna di chi non si accontenta della mera realtà. L'estetica è perciò una forma di conoscenza e in un mondo globalizzato ha capacità di essere compresa appieno a livello mondiale. La comprensione umana infatti supera ogni steccato e l'arte sa poeticizzare la vita. L'esperienza estetica rende inoltre la complessità più umana. Ogni vita, in fondo, può essere un'arte. Secondo Edgar Morin sarebbe auspicabile una riforma pedagogica che insegni ai futuri adulti l'importanza della conoscenza complessa. In fondo l'estetica è un momento per noi di comunione con gli altri nello standardizzarsi del nostro sussistere.

- STEFANO TADDEI

Edgar Morin

Sull’estetica

Raffaello Cortina Editore, pp. 125

Il nuovo Istituto per l’Arte Contemporanea. L’Apologia della storia e il suo interesse per l'uomo

Ha aperto il 24 gennaio a Milano ICA - Istituto per l’arte contemporanea, fondazione no-profit diretta da Alberto Salvadori. Il modello proposto è quello dell’Istitute of contemporary art di matrice anglosassone, né museo né galleria ma luogo di ricerca sulla realtà contemporanea.

L’attività della fondazione si propone infatti di portare avanti un programma espositivo che spazi dal ‘900 fino all’attualità con una vocazione interdisciplinare che cerca di soddisfare le aspettative e le richieste del pubblico tout court.

Apologia della storia - The Historian’s Craft- Installation view - ICA MILANO , 2019

Collocato in un’area industriale - zona Ripamonti - l’istituto nasce in uno stabile industriale degli anni ’30 che si affaccia su un cortile condiviso con una famosa azienda di macchine per il gelato. Una facciata dismessa anticipa l’aspetto decadente dell’interno: cemento, mattoni a vista, vecchi infissi, il tutto lasciato tale ad accentuare il carattere underground dell’edificio. Lo spazio sembra dunque riqualificarsi grazie alla presenza delle opere d’arte inserendosi così a pieno titolo in quel processo che ha visto protagonista la stessa area in cui è situato. Il centro sorge infatti in prossimità della ormai consolidata Fondazione Prada creando una rete di istituzioni dedicate al contemporaneo capaci di rendere la periferia della città nuovo centro propulsivo per la cultura.

Ma quella tra le due istituzioni è una vicinanza che sembra essere perseguita dal nuovo Istituto per l’Arte Contemporanea non solo attraverso la posizione ma anche tramite alcune scelte stilistiche, come l’idea del riuso di uno stabile preesistente, la struttura giocata sui toni dei bianchi e dei grigi del cemento, più banalmente se vogliamo, con i fogli di sala che presentano un font e una grafica simili a quelli di Fondazione Prada. Una connessione dunque quella con il colosso di Prada direi non casuale ma piuttosto ricercata e messa in evidenza.

Apologia della storia - The Historian’s Craft- Installation view - ICA MILANO , 2019

La sede ha inaugurato con la mostra collettiva Apologia della storia - The Historian’s Craft a cura di Alberto Salvadori e Luigi Fassi. Il titolo riprende l’omonimo libro dello storico francese Marc Bloch (1886 - 1944) iniziatore della fortunata scuola de Les Annales. Ad ispirare la mostra è il principio alla base della nuova ricerca storiografica proposta da Bloch, ovvero un’analisi scientifica attenta non solo agli “eventi” della storia ma anche alle psicologie collettive, agli uomini comuni e alla vita quotidiana. Animato da tale forte istanza umanistica, l’approccio di Bloch viene qui messo a confronto con la metodologia usata dagli artisti stessi che operano, appunto, tenendo di conto dell’uomo nella sua interezza. L’artista come storico per la sua lettura dell’essere umano ma anche per la convinzione, cara a Bloch e alla sua scuola, che una più consapevole conoscenza del passato possa permettere di affrontare meglio i problemi del presente. Si riuniscono dunque per l’occasione i lavori di dodici artisti internazionali che indagano le loro singole storie per comporre un’idea storia capace di aprire lo sguardo ad una riflessione critica sulla contemporaneità.

Apologia della storia è la prima di una serie di iniziative rivolte alla cultura contemporanea nel senso più ampio: cinema, performance, filosofia, musica, letteratura, progetti vari su cui potrete rimanere aggiornati consultando il loro sito. Merita sicuramente una segnalazione il progetto Gallery Focus dedicato alla storia delle più importanti gallerie italiane dagli anni ’50 ad oggi, un progetto che si propone di dare voce e memoria alle realtà che hanno spesso favorito l’ingresso in Italia di artisti poi affermatisi nel tempo. Il primo incontro, tenuto da Caterina Toschi, si terrà a Marzo e sarà dedicato alla Galleria Dell’Ariete e al suo ruolo cruciale nell’inserimento degli artisti americani promossi da Leo Castelli.

Titolo: Apologia della storia - The Historian’s Craft

Periodo: Dal 24 Gennaio 2019 a Venerdì 15 marzo 2019

Orario di apertura: giovedì/venerdì/sabato/domenica, 12-20

chiuso dal lunedì al mercoledì.

Dove: ICA MILANO

Via Orobia 26, 20139 Milano

Ingresso libero

- Giulia Zompa

Gasworks: 25 years of residencies and cultural exchanges

Gasworks is a non-profit art organization established in 1994 that works both in the UK and internationally. It provides studios for emerging London-based artists and residencies for international artists at their first exhibition in the UK, supporting them and giving them the opportunity to spend time researching and developing ideas, in an exciting panorama that a city like London can offer. Combat Art Review meets the director Alessio Antoniolli.

Gasworks' director Alessio Antoniolli

1. This year is Gasworks 25th anniversary. Could you give us an overview of what Gasworks is in 2019 and what’s been achieved since 1994?

A lot has been achieved in relation to the fact that we are now in a secure space, we were able to buy the building not too long ago, which gives us a much clearer sense of the future. Over the last 25 years we have worked with over 500 artists from 80 countries around the World. This is an amazing track record, not only for the number of artists, but also for the breath of Gasworks and its ability to go out of the main European and North American art centers, to really trying to support and promote talents on a more global scale. The focus of Gasworks is on artists, not just the art. We work with the actual people that make art, that’s why since the beginning we retained studios, we have been running residencies, we continue to work with artists towards the production of the exhibition. So it really is about the makers. Gasworks established its identity as a space for artists but it is also a space for curatorial processes and ideas, albeit aiming to reflect the direction that emerging artists are taking. The format of the program has changed very little over the years, but its content is constantly being updated by artists. Of course, this does not happen in isolation. Gasworks evolution happens in response to artists but also its context of peer organisations and the art 'ecosystem' in London, the UK etc. Gasworks was established here in South London because it was in a fairly central but completely underdeveloped part of the city, so the building was cheap and affordable to us and therefore to artists who are renting our studios. Things, however have changed and one of our neighbour is the American Embassy. We were lucky to be able to buy our building 4 years ago as it has established our roots and secured our future in a landscape that is constantly changing and becoming more and more unaffordable. I have been here for 21 out of Gasworks' 25 years, so, professionally-speaking we have 'grown up together' and lots has changed over this time. As the world and as the politics around the world are changing, as this wave of populism and nationalism takes hold, I find that working internationally, working across borders and across cultures, has paradoxically become more radical now than it was 15 years ago. I think this is very sad reflection of the state of things now. But for people like myself and many others who believe in cultural exchange and in international dialogue, the current situation only confirms and renews our commitment and determination to this work.

2. How many artists do you host in a year and how do you develop programmes?

We have 13 studios, 4 of them are reserved for 4 groups of internationals artists coming from 3 months, so we do 16 residencies over one year. The other 9 studios are rented to London based artists for a period of five years. On top of that we organize four exhibitions, mostly solo shows. Very rarely residencies are linked to the exhibitions as residencies are more focussed on research and development while exhibitions are commissioned-based. The open ended nature of residencies is important to me, particularly if the artist is new to London. In this case, having an exhibition at the end of the residency would create a lot of pressure and would limit the experimentation and the exploration of London as a site for new ideas and research. In addition to residencies and exhibitions, we work with two other artists each year on a six months residency where artists developed work in conjunction with community groups in our neighbourhood.

3. What are the new needs of artists?

it is very important to safeguard spaces for dialogues and experimentation in a context like London, where life is very expensive and the art market is big necessity. Residencies and subsidised studios are vital to support artists' creative development, particularly at early stages of their careers, when they may not have the support of commercial galleries. This is a very critical time in artists' careers and they need a space that is willing to take a risk, that is able to invest on their potential. I'd like to think that Gasworks is one of the spaces.

4. At this particular moment in history it is fundamental to continue to support collaborations, cultural exchange and dialogues. How’s the residencies system changed in your years at Gasworks and what is changing now?

In the last 20 years the art ecosystem has become a lot more sophisticated. Collectors, philanthropists and the wider public are seeing smaller and more experimental places as an opportunity to find new artists, ideas and approaches. The market for art has also expanded and become more global. This has also made art more accessible to more people. It would have been unthinkable 5-10 years ago to have a group of collectors to supporting a residency at Gasworks, where the investment is in the artists' development rather than a piece of work. We are very lucky now to have significant support by private individuals, who are enabling us to invite artists from countries or region where the funding structure is extremely limited or non-existent. It has become a joint effort between Gasworks and many visionary individuals to provide residencies for artists who can potentially become part of a more international conversation through their work and the exposure to new ideas and opportunities.

5. Who are the supporters in 2019?

Our main funder is the Art Council of England, then there are trusts and foundations in the UK and internationally that support us. We also have an expanding group of collectors, philanthropists and people that have a passion for art and artists. Collectors are becoming more adventurous, they are not only going for established artists, they are more willing to take risks. They are also aware that buying work by more emerging artists is a way of supporting their career and become part of their journey.

6. Triangle Network is an international artist and visual arts network of organizations that provides support and development and Gasworks is part of this global system of connections. What’s Triangle Network’s plan in 2019?

Triangle Network is actually the network that gave life to Gasworks. It started in 1982 and developed as an international network of partners before Gasworks existed. While, over the years, Gasworks has become the main hub and I have become the director of the Network, most of our partners are based in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is also important to say that while I do manage the development of the network, each partner is completely independent. We come together because of similar methodologies and a shared commitment to creating exchanges. For years the network relied on donations from foundations and NGOs, but this support is diminishing fast. It is perhaps time for Triangle Network to look at how it can build its own sustainable model, one that is less reliant on sporadic donations. We are trying to establish a fund that supports the network, starting for partners operating in places where resources are more limited. Reduction in funding is threatening the future of many of our partners, often leaving nothing in its place. In addition, this situation is threatening the dialogue that has been established over the years, returning to a hugely problematic one-sided flow of ideas and information. With this in mind, finding a level of self-sustaining system for the networks and for its partners is fundamental. To do so we try join forces and thinking. At the moment we are working on a possible exchange program amongst our partners in South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which we are hoping to extent to other areas of the network soon.

7. Could you talk a bit about the current exhibition by Libita Clayton at Gasworks?

We work with a foundation called Freelands Foundation, who is supporting us to create links with artists and organisations based outside London. This programme addresses the disconnection between London and the rest of the UK and aims to crate a better flow of ideas and opportunities. Libita Clayton was the artist invited as part of this programme which included a residency and later down the line, an exhibition at Gasworks. We were able to facilitate her to undertake research in London and Cornwall, as well as South Africa and Namibia as she traced her family roots and journey. Specifically she researched her father's exile from Namibia to Europe, ending up in Cornwall working in the mining industry. In her work she looks at the role of mining as key to a process of colonial extraction, not only on its effect on people, but also as geological trade. The show takes the form of a sonic archive, informed by a series of photograms that chart her research and served as music score for a composition she created with fellow artists, musician and sound engineers. In this way, the archive is accessed in a more experiential way, through the emotions, sensations and feelings it triggers on the viewer.

- Carolina Rapezzi