During three days at CAVS, Italian artist Cesare Pietroiusti presented his work
Europe in Motion
to the public and conducted a workshop with a class of undergraduate architecture majors. Drawing from Fluxus while quietly emphasizing the social and political dimensions of everyday life, Pietroiusti’s practice often centers on setting himself or others a task, or asking others to give him instructions. To faithfully “collect everything that is visible in a given environment and take it elsewhere” or “organize a show by artists who have given up” can illuminate (often humorously) the participant’s relationship to the world that surrounds her.
EUROPE IN MOTION: New practices in art and social space
consisted of:
1. An artist’s workshop and presentation
2. Two documentaries
3. A mini-exhibition
4. A collection of artists’ publications
The documentaries
:
The Invisible Object: Art in Social Change
(2003, US premiere) focuses on innovative projects for public space. In a journey through Italy, France, and the Netherlands, curator Bartolomeo Pietromarchi talks with artists, curators, city dwellers, and community representatives about urban issues and the public art projects that engage them. Including interviews with Nicolas Bourriaud, Atelier van Lieshout, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Cesare Pietroiusti, and others.
Fluid Cities: Berlin to Istanbul
(2004, International premiere) documents social and public cultural practices along a route that begins in Berlin, travels through Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and ends in Istanbul.
These films are part of Trans:it—Moving Culture through Europe, a project launched by Rome’s Adriano Olivetti Foundation in 2003. Trans:it is a forum for the discussion of artistic production in public space, and highlights European artists, groups, and cultural institutions who operate in a social or public context. The project encompasses a website, related presentations and workshops, and three documentary films including the two above. Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, the artistic director of the Foundation, has presented Trans:it, including the first film, at cultural centers throughout Europe.
http://www.transiteurope.org/
The mini-exhibition
:
A number of projects discussed in Pietromarchi’s documentaries will be on view at CAVS. Together, these works suggest a new zone of public practice in which artists that create or examine social networks work alongside a new breed of sociologist, urban planner and architect. Exploring a globalized, post-Cold-War East, West, and Southern Europe, these projects tend to show rather than tell, allowing a Sofia marketplace, residents of an outsize housing development outside Rome, or the cityscapes of Berlin and Bucharest to speak for themselves.
Including works by Luchezar Boyadjev (Bulgaria), Campement Urbain (France), Calin Dan (Romania), Heidrun Holzfeind (Austria), David Lamelas (Argentina/ Germany), Armin Linke (Italy), Multiplicity (Italy), Krassimir Terziev (Bulgaria), SKART (Serbia), and Stalker (Italy).
The magazines
:
Pietroiusti is also co-founder of the international artist collective Nomads & Residents. Among other activities, N+R organizes and circulates the
Traveling Magazine Table
, a collection of independent publications by international artists, artists’ collectives, alternative art spaces, and other collaboratives. This continuously growing collection is presented in different venues twice a year. With each participating venue, the Traveling Magazine Table is updated with new materials.
Here is a list of the mini performances that Cesare Pietroiusti initiated with
Pia LIndman's
Foundations of Visual Art
class at MIT's
Visual Arts Program
:
MICROPERFORMANCES
:
Matthew Roitstein
(1 of 2)
"The Expressionless Voice Between"
Matthew will be speaking entirely in a single pitch.
Abraham Reyes
"OCDe-mail"
Abraham will be checking his e-mail every minute for an hour.
Mihae Chang
"Only Talk to People Wearing Red Tops"
Diana Nee
"Balloon Drift"
Caitlin Mueller
"Moving through a space while always maintaining three contact points"
Maggie Nelson
Maggie will use her left hand for everyday tasks throughout the day including note-taking in class.
Kavita Kothari
"Eyebrows of Expression: Examining the Conveyance of Emotion in Eyebrow Movement"
Kavita will ask people to sit on the bench across from the small pin-up room. She'll tape their eyebrows while telling happy and sad stories.
Jean Shon
Either "Scream one word in every sentence" or "Describe the personality of people you don't know, based on outward appearance"
Barbara Peng
"Conversations With A Plant"
Matthew Roitstein
(2 of 2)
"The Twin"
Matthew will be taking on the persona of his twin brother, Andrew Roitstein. Matthew will be accompanied by his roommate, who will be there to introduce "Matthew’s brother" to people whom he knows but Matthew does not. If Matthew’s schedule allows, he will continue this microperformance during other parts of the day.
Cathie Kim
"Passing Notes With A Stranger In A Lecture"
Anna Konotchik
"Make art out of random objects you find in a room"
