Inarea

This period of the year is always something of a crossover. The sun is still at a right angle, yet defining events of the year are already taking place and cast much longer (and far more interesting) shadows. The 79th Venice International Film Festival opens next Wednesday, 31st August. But even though it’s 90 years old (the first edition was held in 1932), the festival is fully aware of today’s challenges: screenplays written by a fast and furious ghost writer called algorithm and movie theatres substituted by tablets, to mention but a few. And yet, as we’re talking about late August, and hence about a period of transition, open-air cinemas come to mind. Again this summer, thanks to these modern-day arenas, films have been projected in both obscure or well-known piazzas for the enjoyment of holiday-makers and inhabitants alike. Whether to solitary film buffs or to fun-seeking cliques of friends, moving images have been dished out in generous portions. 82-year-old Francis Ford Coppola believes that films will survive the test of time, as has been the case with the plays of Sophocles and Euripides. In 1936 Walter Benjamin prophesied that in the future our homes would be supplied with images that one would be able to turn on “like water or electricity”. Bingo… the prophecy has indeed come true! Actually, Benjamin had been somewhat adverse to films, suspicious of their distractive nature and of stardom. Yet today we refer to filmmaking as the seventh art and in order to remain thus, i.e. a luminous art that leaves a shining trail behind it, it needs a medium and a message. Directors have the possibility of “drawing” freely. It’s up to us, as spectators, not to delete those images. As the action gets rolling, all that remains is for everyone to sit back and make themselves comfortable.

Extended periods of respite have existed since the dawn of time; the Romans used to call them Feriae Augusti. Probably because by the time we reach the eighth month of the year, we feel somewhat the worse for wear – and definitely in need of some invisible darning. One of our most natural desires is to go for a dip in the sea where what’s really fascinating is to see one’s reflection in the water, rather than gaze at the silently glinting fish. Scuba divers use the so-called buddy system to monitor one another and ascend together to the surface whenever they notice that, due to an excess of adrenalin or a lack of oxygen, their buddy diver might be in distress. In other words, buddy diving allows one to receive help without explicitly asking for it, at times without even being aware of it. That’s exactly what’ll take place down there, in our figurative August “underwater work shed”. Our batteries will be recharged discretely and subtly so that, come Autumn, we’ll be fighting fit and ready to deal thoroughly with all the problems that await us, examine them from head to foot, and turn them inside out like socks.

Multiple stories over the centuries have turned the Colosseum, with its multiple storeys, into an economic marker, as well as an urban landmark. Pillaging of the amphitheatre, built in 1st century A.D., was always, alas, the name of the game whenever construction materials were required. That is what happened in Late Antiquity, for example, when Rome lost its iron mines in Brittany. The price soared as the demand for this metal rose, similarly to that of several commodities today. Thus, it was not uncommon to come across individuals who, in order to steal it, would be hauled up in baskets all the way to the joints between the blocks of travertine; the gaps on the Colosseum’s façade, and a missing storey, testifies to this. But history had more in store for the iconic ‘leftover’ from ancient times… During the Renaissance, with the aim of providing a livelihood for the impoverished population of Rome, Pope Sixtus V who was a Franciscan, planned to convert the Colosseum into a wool factory (“Lanificio Colosseo”), with shops on the upper floors and living quarters and manufacturing plants on the lower ones. Thumbs down: the Pontiff’s death also resulted in the kiss of death for this somewhat woolly idea. This week Deloitte has estimated that the ‘social asset value’ of the Colosseum is around 77 billion euros, contributing 1.4 billion to Italy’s GNP. To put it bluntly: this is the living (or, rather, still-standing) proof that the Colosseum is a sharp, pulsating brand that can adapt to just about anything – and, thus, that it is an indelible one too.

The ice cream cone first appeared on the scene in 1896 thanks to the genius of an Italian, Italo Marchioni, who used to push an ice cream cart up and down Wall Street. It was imperative for him to find a means of transport for that frozen mousse, and to avoid having to wash, carry or break glass and metal containers. Thus, for more than a century, the conical-shaped wafer has doubled-up as both packaging and a design item at the same time – in the latter capacity earning itself a place of honour among other design items in the MoMA. A humble invention, it has ascended to the pinnacle of iconic effectiveness: you just need to close your eyes… and the cone will always appear a split second before the cup. Which goes to prove that it is undeniably the best ‘sock’ for ice cream scoops, at least according to the “cost-effective” way in which the mind organises its stocks (or socks) of icons and memories. It has remained intact for more than a century, nor does it melt away as fashions come and go. We could call it the ice cream i-cone.

Flamingos are birds that are perfectly at home wherever there is sea-salt or chlorine in the air – and they turn into inflatable beach (or pool) toys for our carefree moments. Indeed, they seem the epitome of a relaxed existence: they balance with ease on one leg and the more shrimp they eat, the lovelier they look, seeing as their pretty pink colouring is the result of their crustacean-based diet. As for their habitat, it isn’t uncommon in Italy – from Tuscany to Sicily, from Sardinia to Emilia Romagna – to come across salt pans which, thanks to “flamboyances” of flamingos, look like oases viewed through rose-tinted glasses. But let’s bear in mind that leisureliness isn’t a given for these wading birds. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, for example, they get rudely flattened out and used as mallets during an improbable game of croquet … Lewis Carroll reminds us that when the going gets tough, even the flamingos get going. Whether we’re chilling out or getting worked up, our days always tend to resemble a game of a croquet; as for our “tough” flamingo, it not only passes the “flamingo balance test” but is also unquestionably in the pink: after all, is it, or is it not, this summer’s “sock symbol”?

“In the summertime, when the weather is hot…” what cheerier way of celebrating the carefree days of summer than the famous Mungo Jerry song? A myriad of fine weather activities are mentioned: from fishing to parties, from swimming in the sea, to meals out. The rhythm makes us think of an old steam train chuff-chuffing up a hill in the sunshine – though these days we might instead be inclined to find it reminiscent of the relentless rising of prices in many countries, as well as of the high-speed plummeting of human rights in other (not-so-distant) ones. Let’s try then to stock up as if we were ants, but with retroactive supplies. Thus, this 21st June seems like the start-up of a locomotive, and we can be sure that the clanging noise and slowness involved are bound to protect us from all the ups and downs. Could the smoke rising from our locomotive’s smokestack be a white hanky waving goodbye to those leaving on their holiday train, with a comb handy to untangle all the knots of a matted situation? All it took was to go off track – or “derail” – for a few instances and we’re already in summertime gear. Let’s hope we can stretch this mood well beyond the summer. For the time being, the best we can do is make ourselves comfortable, perhaps in the window seat.

“Art and Sensuality in the Houses of Pompei”, an exhibition currently staged at Pompeii, aims to prove that the erotic imagery, so ubiquitous in homes all over that Roman city, is not only (as indicated in the title) “art”, but is also depictive of something quite natural and which can, therefore, be viewed by adults and children alike. The adjective “hard core”, being a concept that changes over time, doesn’t apply here at all. However, one does require lenses to look closely… Thus, the exhibition highlights those steamy scenes whose explicitness had embarrassed archaeologists ever since the site was first discovered. Consequently, the evocative artefacts had been stashed in storerooms that remained more or less off limits – until now. The present exhibition, on view until January 2023, recounts how our ancestors possessed everything except bashfulness: scenes depicting the copulation of gods and centaurs were not only a narrative for bedrooms, but also for sitting rooms, grottos and gardens – in short, they were central to private daily life in Pompeii. And while we’re on the subject of special lenses, let’s remember that the French painter Gustave Courbet – who holds the record as the artist most-recently hit by a seemingly timeless censorship – was born on 10 June 1819. In 2011, Courbet’s painting L’Origine du monde (1866) was censored by Facebook and the legal battle that ensued ended up in court. It would appear that nothing escapes the eye in the world of multimedia and so our dilemma is: to paste or not to paste an emoji on a painting of a nude body? That is the question. In the meantime, an anti-myopia device seems a “bare” necessity. MADEINAREA In 2015, we worked alongside the Superintendency of the Archaeological Site of Pompeii on the complex task of reassessing and re-proposing the cultural offer. As a result of this project, we redefined the umbrella-name under which all of the archaeological area’s various sites could be grouped, reviving the Latin word “Pompeii” (which is used also in English) so as to distinguish the site from the present-day Italian city of Pompei (with one ‘i’). We also designed a ‘new’ branding inspired by the beautiful frescoes of the “Villa of the Mysteries”. On the basis of these identity elements, a comprehensive system was developed, ranging from signposts to new maps, from offline communication to the website. Finally, in order to convey the sense of this unique place (where life stood still at a terrible moment in time, yet continues to be palpable everywhere), we paired its name with the slogan “Tempus, vita”. Eternity has never been so close.

Even comfort, and getting cosy, are a matter of design. Think, for instance, of the relationship we enter into with the Pratone armchair as we sink into it as if we were settling down on a grassy meadow (as per the armchair’s name), its inviting polyurethane foam promising a comfy hug. The Salone del Mobile is celebrating its 60th birthday in 2022; one of the most significant innovations the Milan Furniture Fair introduced was latex foam which, in the 1950s, spread from the motor industry to that of our homes, bringing upholstery in line with that much, much older concept of relax – with which, indeed, it rhymed. Thus, the above Louis XIV-style Récamier smacks of prehistory: it seems highly improbable that we’d be able to chill out on it, despite those curls. Salone e Fuorisalone are back in full-swing from 7 to 12 June. After the long silence caused by the pandemic, this is going to be an ‘electrifying’ week, as well as a return to the high-voltage buzz that galvanizes Milan and the world of design.

The form of government that Italy was to assume from that day onwards was drawn up on 2 June 1946, and this was also partly thanks to “the May King”, as Umberto II came to be nicknamed. He was to rule but a few days because, earlier that same year, in March, he had signed the decree law calling an institutional referendum – one that would, hence, also decide his own destiny. Today, however, we’d like to look at the Italianness of this story by drawing the portrait of a young prince who, several years earlier, had designed the wedding gown for his Belgian bride, Marie José; one could conclude that Umberto was designer material, though he has gone down in the annals of history for not being such stuff as kings are made of. However, probably a lot of people were feeling somewhat out of joint that year: the men because their wrists had gone numb from years of not voting, the recently-franchised women because they were being called upon to do so for the very first time. Let’s try to picture ourselves entering the polling booths on that historical day, June 2nd, and seeing all those trembling ballot pencils. It’s a question of sharpening our imaginative skills – and perhaps even, given present-day habits, of “flagging” them! In any case, it was the choice of a Republic that emerged from the polls, a verdict that brought with it much controversy and suspicion; yet, we can no longer visualize Italy as being anything other than that. Hers is undoubtedly a complex and ever-changing identity … it is, however, one that can be drawn with simplicity.

How loudly is Europe resonating this week? The 12 gold stars on its flag take their rightful place “in the blue, painted in blue”. The reference to the lyrics of Domenico Modugno’s ultra-famous Italian song Volare is apt: in composing what was to become an icon of “Italianness”, the songster drew his inspiration from the blueness of the sky in a painting by (Russian artist) Chagall – we’re writing his nationality in cautious brackets. This week Turin is hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, the first edition of which, inspired by Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival, was held in 1956. However, if we scroll down the long list of winners from that first year onwards, we’ll find that most of these, alas, remained local celebrities only (excluding Abba who were given special permission to sing in English, rather than Swedish). Therefore, in order to ensure that we get something that’ll stand the test of time out of this week, we’ll need to work on the Contest’s basic components, i.e. sound and vision. For the former, let’s go for music without words. It may be a coincidence, but the concert dedicated to David Sassoli and celebrating Europe Day, held on the Capitol Hill in Rome on Monday, 9 May, opened with Vivaldi’s “Summer” concerto from The Four Seasons, a melody that doesn’t knock at the door but – spring having sprung – bursts in boldly. For the latter, let’s go for speaking images. It so happens that all over the continent this Saturday will be the European Night of Museums on which museums stay open until late into the night, with entrance tickets priced at a token cost. After all, the declaration that Robert Schuman delivered on 9 May 1950 (which marked the starting point of the European Union) has indeed stood the test of time. In those days, just like today, the big problems were steel, energy and wars and, in the words of the famous French Foreign Minister, “World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.” Here, then, is our own composition which evokes only sound and vision; it’s our small creative contribution. A flowering of the imagination?