Modart » COMMA art city

Organizing COMMA

Maxi — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:00:33 +0000

Recently we have been writing a lot about COMMA Art City in Perugia, Italy. COMMA is -I hate to say it- a very cool urban art event in a dreamy little town in Umbria, curated by TwoThings, a.k.a. Morcky and The Boghe, a.k.a. Marco Galmacci and Rocco Pezzella, a.k.a. NNE members from the very beginning.

During a nice dinner, a glass of whine and some distraction I interviewed one of TwoThings, Morcky Troubles, about his childhood in Perugia and his recent return to the city of stairs.

How was it to grow up in Perugia?
Perugia is a long way from everything. It almost seems surreal, because it is so secluded from the world. When you grow up here it is hard to be in touch with what is happening outside. So you only ever hear about what is going on, but you rarely see it.

Why did you move away?
It was a very natural decision to move somewhere else. I was searching for freedom and youth culture and couldn’t get it from my surroundings here. Emigrating seemed a good way to leave Perugia behind. Italy, and especially Perugia, are somehow stuck in the past. It is a strong culture that doesn’t relate to anything real anymore.
Rocco and I heard a lot of good stories about the artistic life in Amsterdam, so we decided to move there.

What is typical Perugian for you?
The most typical, or traditional, would be the torta al testo.

What about the people?
The people here are quite closed and not expansive at all. You got to understand that Perugia is quite difficult to reach, which is why the old traditions are still left intact. Transport and communication have only been improved in the last fifty years or so and you can see that a lot of people are a bit scared from what comes from outside.

How did the idea for COMMA come about?
Our friend Piercarlo opened a cultural space not too long ago and approached Rocco and me as TwoThings to do an exhibition there. Our idea was to bring our life in Amsterdam to Perugia -to make a connection between the two realities we live in- so we convinced him to make it bigger than the initial idea. Since Piercarlo also works with the city council it just came down to setting a date and organizing it.

Tell me more about the selection of artists you invited.
The selection came very naturally. The artists invited are our friends based in Amsterdam and, as I said before, we wanted our two lifes to come together; to clash. We wanted to bring artists that we look up to artistically and that we, at the end of the day, like to have around.

From what I understand talking to you and others from Perugia, it is quite difficult here for young people in the sense that there is little to do. Yet, I see a lot of young people and students everywhere. Why is that?
Perugia is a student city, but they only study and leave. Few people stay to build and create a life here. Things here are institutionalized to stay the way they are, which makes it difficult to stay and fight for change.

What was the best part of this experience for you?
I loved doing the mural at central station. Down there, at the bottom of the mountain, is a disastrous part of Perugia with a lot of junkies and poverty. I hope to somehow change the perception of the city and to make an impact on such a critical area.

What do you hope to give to the people of Perugia?
I want to give something to the new generation and to inspire the youngsters. I hope to make them believe in their future and that they should just keep doing what they like and work to make a living from it. Most of all, I hope to to inspire them to do things differently.

[SinglePic not found]Now, I’ve heard rumors about plans for the coming years?!
Yeah, we got great responses from the city council and the organizers. We already have a meeting this week to discuss future events. Next year we want to take it to another level and create interaction with the more traditional crafts of Perugia, by organizing collaborations between artists and artisans.

For more pictures visit No New Enemies

Opening COMMA

Maxi — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:58:07 +0000

After two weeks of hard work and dedication the Pallazzo della Penna opened its doors to the public. Opening an art exhibition in Italy is a very formal event. After an introduction from the organizers followed a speech from the city council, followed by a speech from the Dutch Embassy, followed by a speech from the curators, Marco Gallmacci and Rocco Pezzella.

It was good to see the crowd of visitors lining up to see the exhibition ranging from parents, to city officials, to a young crowd of supporters and curious people. A healthy average of a city’s population is probably the best thing you can wish for, when organizing an urban art event that wants to be taken seriously.

The work shown by the 15 artists invited was as diverse as the public. They had five rooms to share. The first room hosted Maomaland, Lil’Shy, The London Police, Zedz, Morcky and Galo.

Upon entry one was greeted by the large and labor intense installation from Maomaland and Lil’Shy. Like a little house on the prairie the fluffy colorful sculpture sat in the middle of the room, resembling a mysterious but inviting house without windows or doors.

On the wall, next to Lil’Shy’s “linguistic patterns on fabric”, Maomaland showed a series of photographs taken from the 1920’s and photo-shopped into photographs from the fantasy universe of Rocco Pezzella and Guilia Laura.

The London Police, Zedz and Galo created murals integrating canvasses as if they’re part of the picture. Morcky created a large beautifully collaged mural covering a whole wall, including elements of painting, drawing and paper shapes with open doors and hidden towers. The mural seemed the only work inspired by the city of Perugia and it’s magic.

Chaz from the London Police also presented a video installation of the humorous ‘slapping video’, wherein different people were simply slapped in the face. A funny and beautifully edited piece. Like a comment on the pains of life and the fun it entails.

Abner Preis had a room to himself presenting the Superhero Project with six photographs taken during his performance in Perugia and a video installation. Preis has been working on The Superhero Project for over a year now and has traveled to different cities taking on the role of a superhero and approaching the people he meets to become superheroes themselves; making them imagine their potential to be super.

Joe Holbrook, Raymond Lemstra, Wayne Horse and Minivila shared the second big room. All four artists showed work created during their stay in Perugia, ranging from the fine pencil drawings from Lemstra, over Holbrook’s realist paintings, to Wayne Horse’s puzzling almost surrealist canvasses. Only Minivila included an installation made of fabric to surround her fashion character drawings.

The other two rooms were shared by Ovni and LordH and Rocco Pezzella and Sit. Ovni and LordH both work with abstract shapes and created two big installations. While Ovni experimented with organic shapes made from cable -an experiment with a lot of potential that seemed a bit one-dimensional for what she usually crafts- LordH presented a well-designed composition of lines and shapes fusing into a dynamic wall that almost made me dizzy when looking at it too long.

Sit presented works from his Noir series, examining the “troubled relationship between the animal kingdom and mankind”. A recurring theme in his work translated into beautiful black and white paintings that differ in strength, but are nonetheless beautiful. For COMMA he also made two large canvasses with a lot of details that were perfectly integrated into a mural.

The work that impressed me most was the video installation by Rocco Pezzella. Two desks with framed screens on top and a mysterious connection. One, is the desk of the German scientist Heidegger, featuring a Russian style documentary in German about Heidegger inventing a machine that can read the subconscious. On the antique desk Pezzella arranged different items with an attention to details that left me speechless with curiosity. Books, open diaries with mysterious writings and letters, rabbit heads and other items preserved in bottles with alcohol, a piece of fake hash and other paraphernalia. In his diary an abstract a vision, as Rocco explains, and a thread to the next piece. Next to the antique desk stands a futuristic installation showing an animated video resembling a dream sequence. Bellow Pezzella created an abstract monochrome landscape of sharp edgy shapes and a group of miniature people walking down a hill of salt. A dream or creation of the subconscious itself.

DreamCall Nightmare – a midwinter surreal fantasy from HELLO, SAVANTS! on Vimeo.

After the well received opening and promises and plans for following COMMA events the artists seemed relieved and happy with what they had achieved. What followed, was another Perugian night, celebrating with a bright future and many more to come.

The exhibition will be on until the end of July.

To see more pictures visit No New Enemies.

by Maxi Meissner

A Long Way from Home

Maxi — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:57:50 +0000

Perugia is a long way from home. When I stepped into the plane on Wednesday morning I had only a vague idea on how to get there and what would await me in return.

The decision to fly me into Perugia to report on COMMA Art City was last minute and I was determined to follow the few instructions I had on how to get there. But landing in Rome Fuimicino already proved my determination as fruitless as a law suit against Berlusconi. Including all the confuzione, wrong informazione and sending arounde.

An hour of seeking information on that one bus had me sweating and I was happy to meet Nana from Rooftop in Amsterdam to share my confusion.

We decided to catch the train instead. Five hours and plenty of the beautiful Umbrian landscape later we arrived at Perugia. Sit and one of the producers of COMMA awaited us with a ride downtown and off we raced up the hills like madmen, to be dropped off at the bottom of one of the many seemingly endless escalators.

Those escalators connect the old part of the city on the top of the mountain with the newer part at the bottom, where most cars are parked since the city is only accessible by car during certain hours of the day. The primarily medieval center of Perugia has hardly changed since the time of the Roman empire, before and beyond. This is something you don’t just realize when someone points out the hooks attached to an ancient viaduct and tells you that that used to be where the heads were hung.

A maze of small streets, side alleys, squares and mysterious buildings lead up and down the hill that is Perugia. Believe me, there’s not a single street that’s level. And because of it’s hilltop position stunning views of the Umbrian landscape lie to your feed around unsuspecting corners. I’ve told you about very great things and places before, but Perugia gets 4 out of 5 Very’s on my very scala. It is a very very very very great city.

Arriving at the Hotel Priori, which I learned would be my nest, I was already greeted by the cheers and saluti from the group of 15 Amsterdam based artists dining at the nearby restaurant. It felt like coming home in a strange and mysterious town I’ve never been before.

To read more and see all pictures visit No New Enemies.

by Maxi Meissner

COMMA – Leaving Traces

Maxi — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:34:07 +0000

In my mind Perugia is a magical place. A city rising on a remote elevation of the earth’s surface with endless staircases that lead from one mountain to the other and up into a blue sky. Not unlike an M.C. Escher print one can get easily lost in Perugia’s old town. A labyrinth of narrow streets lead through viaducts, past antique fresco’s and through secret doors.

In my life, Perugia is a place where at least three of our precious NNE members come from. Morcky, Rocco and Maoma left their hometown and its magic behind, to make Amsterdam their home. Many of years later they haven’t forgotten about Perugia and decided to unite their two homes in a way many world-citizens, torn between ‘heimat’ and home, would like to unite theirs.

As TwoThings, Morcky and Rocco, curate COMMA Art City in Perugia and invited 15 artists from 8 nationalities, all resident in Amsterdam, to meet, sniff and discover the magical place of their youth and childhood.

From June 20 to July 17 Morcky, Rocco Pezzella, Maomaland, Galo, LordH, Abner Preis, Mini Vila, Joe Holbrook, The London Police, Wayne Horse, Lil’Shy, Ovni, Zedz, Raymond Lemstra, and Sitnie will charm and be charmed by Perugia. Exhibiting in- and outdoor all over town COMMA intends to create a meeting point among artists and a connection with the city.

They explain:
“The comma indicates a pause in a sentence. It is the moment of breathing; is a suspension. The comma doesn’t break down the conversation, but opens to a new dialogue, leaves the space to think and sometimes suggests a different ending. A moment suspended in time that will leave a sign of what happened, a trace of a group of artists who share the daily life and the final aim.

“With this project, Perugia presents the work of 15 artists. The works will be split into exhibition spaces and public interventions, getting in touch with a widely diversified public and establishing a direct connection with the city.”

In line with the NNE core, inspired by a traveling community of artists in the spirit of friendship and fraternity with shared fun as initiation, we were invited to cover the event. At the end of next week we will feature exclusive interviews with the artists, special reports and updates.

Meanwhile I wonder whether Perugia can reveal its myths and secrets to me without loosing its magic. But that, will have to be discovered next week.