ArtITude

ArtITude is a web series delving into Italian creativity. What are Italian artists investigating right now through their research, craft and originality?

Be part of the journey and discover an incredible selection of talent presented by Lorenzo Balbi, the artistic director of Bologna’s Museum of Modern and Experimental Art.

IT is culture, IT is creativity, IT is innovation!

On the 7th of September 2022, ArtITude received a special mention at the Social World Film Festival during the Venice Biennale.

Norma Jeane

Meet ShyBot, the robot that collects emotional data

Norma Jeane, an anonymous artist known only by their alias, created a Mars Rover-inspired robot known as ShyBot that collects emotionally-neutral data from its surroundings. Powered by solar energy and equipped with digital vision, ShyBot cruises the desert in search of solitude. The desert, due to its emptiness, represents a safe space for the robot, a hideout that is suited to its shy nature; emphasising – through the absence of human warmth – the relevance of the same.

Emilio Vavarella

Transforming genetic code into intricate tapestries

Using a loom fitted with a Jacquard machine, Emilio Vavarella converted his own genetic code into an 83-meter tapestry. The name of the artwork, part of the broader “The Other Shape of Me” series, is made up of the first line of coding from the artist’s DNA genotype, with the 19th century Jacquard loom being operated by Vavarella’s mother, who symbolically guided the re-creation of her son’s DNA. The tapestry therefore creatively combines artistic vision and traditional artistry by reflecting on the relationship between biology, mechanics, and computing.

Aldo Giannotti

Jumping together to create art

In his work “Monumento al Tuffatore Triestino” (Monument to Trieste’s Diver), Aldo Giannotti produced a participatory work of art that celebrates a physical action deeply-rooted in the instinctual culture of communities living around the Gulf of Trieste. By crafting a pedestal, Giannotti gives his audience the chance to be a part of his art piece by stepping onto the pedestal and jumping into the nearby sea. Open to anyone wishing to take a dive, the artwork has developed a sense of collective identity within the community through the liberating gesture of a single individual.

The Cool Couple

Iconic artists of all periods turned into soccer players

Imagine if artistic movements were transferred onto soccer teams: what would their playing strategies look like? “Emozioni Mondiali”, a work of art by The Cool Couple, is an expansion kit for Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2018. Artists’ physical appearances are accurately reproduced, and they are assigned specific playing techniques; divided into 20 teams, they represent periods such as the Renaissance, Baroque, and Pop Art. Through their art, The Cool Couple provides an opportunity for an ironic reflection of the most renowned artistic movements.

Rachele Maistrello

Seeing non-audible sounds with salt prints

Nature’s invisible sounds can now be heard and seen. With the help of analogue frames, Rachele Maistrello uses silver salt prints to reproduce non-audible sounds from nature. The recordings, which belong to the Jonian Dolphin Conservation, contain ultrasounds made by cetaceans inhabiting the Gulf of Taranto. By turning the non-audible (and invisible) into something perceptible to human senses, Maistrello highlights humanity’s (in)ability to listen and understand the natural world.

Elena Mazzi and Rosario Sorbello

Mapping European cities out of beeswax

Imagine visiting Versailles through a hive frame. Elena Mazzi and Rosario Sorbello use the tools of nomadic apiculture to reflect on the intersections of movements, adaptability, and resiliency. Using six hive frames, the artists made impressions of six European city maps using beeswax. The maps substitute the frame’s traditional beehive matrix, which are normally filled by bees with honey. The showcased cities are those in which rapid economic transformations have been taking place due to the movement of people, thus demonstrating the way that diversity is tightly linked to a high level of versatility.