Title: Matter of Life in Contemporary Art Works

The course intends analyze a path of contemporary artistic production from the 70's to today through some peculiarities of temporary and precarious specifics and configurable as identities. These aspects are related to the materials used to make the work - rather organic materials and therefore easily perishable -; and also to languages (performance and installation). The examen will be started from a preliminary reference to the historical avant-gardes and the poetics of the Informal considered as anticipatory stages of the explored phenomena. We will consider some works of “Arte Povera” in which the use of organic materials puts them in a state of perpetual transformation and also some significant exhibitions, in particular the exhibition "When attitudes Become Form". We will consider also the relation into craftsmanship and community (from Alighiero Boetti to Claudia Losi).
Finally, in the light of the path followed and the issues investigated, will be considered the critical theoretical debate on the "life" of contemporary artwork .

- Hans Ulrich Obrist, “Fare una mostra”, UTET, 2014
- Nicolas Bourriaud, "Forme di vita. L’arte moderna e l’invenzione del sé", Milano, postmediabooks, 2015
- Patrizia Mania, Raffaella Petrilli, Elisabetta Cristallini (a cura di), "Arte sui muri della città. Street Art e Urban Art: questioni aperte", Roma, Round Robin editrice, 2017.
- Bruce Altshuler, “Biennials and Beyond. Exhibitions That Made Art History 1962-2002”, Phaidon, 2013 (pp.93-110).

- Course notes provided by the teacher