ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!! Curated by: Matteo Bittanti and Domenico Quaranta For: Neoludica. Art Is A Game 2011 – 1966 54. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte – la Biennale di Venezia, Collateral Events Sala Dei Laneri, Santa Croce 131, Venezia June 1 – November 27, 2011
ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!! is an alternative Italian pavillion, an irreverent and bold retrospective celebrating the artistic interventions of several generations of tinkerers that use videogames as both tools and means, subject and object of their practices, point of departure and arrival of a techno-ludic exploration. Since the early Nineties, Italian artists have been manifesting an irresistible attraction for digital gaming. They have introduced new original formats – like machinima and political & critical games – an investigated the cultural, social, and economic impact of this medium while the local couch potatoes were distracted by the rise and rise of commercial television. Designed for the first edition of NEOLUDICA. ART IS A GAME 2011 - 1966, ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!! pays homage to a multitude of artistic trajectories, showcases the most recent developments, and imagines possible futures. The title is both celebratory and sarcastic, if not openly polemic: it reminds us that the ongoing failure of the Italian videogame industry is counterbalanced by a prodigious explosion of original and innovative game-related artistic projects. It also questions the very notion of "Italian-ness", as several artists featured in the exhibition have long fled the country for political and cultural reasons. ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!! thus asks “What does it mean to be an "Italian" artist working with video-games, today?”. As Matteo Bittanti suggests, «Beneath an apparent jingoistic commemoration of “italian-ness” lies a critical exploration of such puzzling notion through the filter of videogame-informed art. Rather than providing a simple and unequivocal answer to an apparently straightforward question, the premise & promise of this exhibition is that Italians “can work miracles when you least expect it”. These mavericks are our cultural radars». Domenico Quaranta further elaborates: «Italian art has made a decisive contribution to the recognition of videogames as one of the basic forms of contemporary culture and, more generally, to the reflection on videogame as a cultural artifact. The importance of this contribution can be measured by both the timeliness of some results, and by its quality. We felt it was was necessary to document these achievements in an event in which could reach a mass audience, and thus stimulate a broader conversation.» Come to Venice to see - and play - with the past, present, and future of Italian Game Art. After all, ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!! Artists: Matteo Bittanti + IOCOSE, Marco Cadioli, Mauro Ceolin, Damiano Colacito, Les Liens Invisibles, Miltos Manetas, Eva & Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG, Molleindustria, Antonio Riello, Santa Ragione, Federico Solmi, Stefano Spera, Tonylight, Vjvisualoop, Carlo Zanni. Press Material: http://italiansdoit.wordpress.com/press/ More info: http://italiansdoit.wordpress.com/ http://www.neoludica.it/ --- Domenico Quaranta web. http://domenicoquaranta.com/ email. [email protected] mob. +39 340 2392478 skype. dom_40 _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
