Numbers 1970 (Acrylic on canvas 50x60 cm) The numbers are restricted to an existence inside the grid; a structure that prevents them from

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3 Numbers 1970 (Acrylic on canvas 50x60 cm) The numbers are restricted to an existence inside the grid; a structure that prevents them from communicating with each other. These numbers are to be read as symbolic and existential, underlining the impossibility of any relationship existing between them. 3

4 Numbers 1970 (Acrylic on canvas 50x70 cm) 4

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6 Wall of rocks 1985 (stones and mixed media on canvas 240x180 cm.) The background surface has become materialised, as it is formed by a large canvas treated with earth. tar and burned motor oil; the numbers have become stones; there are no barriers between one stone and the other but despite this they remain separated and each lives in its own world, under its own conditions. 6

7 Wall of mud 1987 (terracotta 280x210 cm.) Large scale work in terracotta; the texture is archaic and original, obtained by the addition of black volcanic sand to the raw paste. In this work, the tiles build up to form a web that is held together with metal hooks. This metal element not only holds up the whole wall but also functions symbolically to places the pieces in relation to each other and in some way oblige them to communicate 7

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9 Untitled 1988 (stone, metal and cables 60x40 cm.) This same concept of interconnection is made more explicit in this work in which pieces of stone communicate with each other by means of a copper cable. 9

10 Brain 1989 (installation - bitumen on canvas, copper and lead 6m.) The subsequent step in this process reveals the key locus where information is exchanged, in the human brain 10

11 Lab (detail of the installation). A type of great brain that gives out information on creation to the brains placed in the trolleys; cables and batteries serve as sources of energy but also of information. I have done considerable amount of work on the theme of the brain and the means of communication both reduced to objects of a primitive science fiction fantasy. 11

12 Lesson 47 - The Human Brain 1992 (performance) In this case, the artist himself is able to work and to express himself because he is wired up. It is not fully clear whether he is receiving or emitting information via the dish. 12

13 Detail of the performance 13

14 Writings 1993 (installation in a space of 80 sq. m., pictures of 220x150, varnish and oil on black leather) The next step in this ideation process is represented by this work in a 1993 show - pictures made of black leather with phrases in German written on them. Each letter - which in the beginning of the artistic process were numbers and then became stones - have become, thanks to the development created by the work with the brain, words when placed one next to the other. The words, one places next to another become phrases, that are concepts, form ideas to be communicated. In this installation the phrases in gold or silver are painted on a surface of leather that is printed with the image of the Brandenburg Gate. The pictures were shown, creating the Berlin Wall with cardboard boxes. The physical context fits ideologically with net-marxist phrases crested by the artist, such as The crisis is an 14

15 artifice invented by the system to be reborn from the self and to be equal to the self. 14

16 Writings 1993 ( vernice e olio su pelle nera 100x150) 15

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18 Manual workers (Polish car scrapper, cibachrome 220x100x10 cm) This is a series of 20 photographs of workers, printed life size. They all worked near to the artist s former studio in the outer suburbs of Rome, an area of brick sheds with metal and fibre cement sheet roofing.the artist wanted to fix in memory this reality which now has for the most part disappeared. This work underlines on the one hand the primacy of the human being as subject in the context of the burgeoning digital era and on the other it stands as a counterweight to the excesses of the posthuman art of the 90s: bodies dismembered and hung up It is not clear if the subjects represented here are models who are presented as workers or if they are workers playing the part of artist s model. 17

19 Manual workers (Welder, cibachrome 220x100x10 cm) 18

20 Manual workers (Car bodywork mechanic, cibachrome 220x100x10 cm) 19

21 Installation in a private gallery 20

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23 World Food Day 1998 (installation 90 sq. m). This installation was set up in the American Academy in Rome and represented the head office of an organisation responsible for dealing with the problem of world hunger, linked to the United Nations. The artist made sacks with the symbol of the World Food Organisation, had the bread cooked by a baker, prepared the photographic set and made large posters giving information about the events of16 October, a day dedicated to the fight against world hunger. Deliberately the photographs are made without contrast of light and shade. Had they been presented in a caravaggesque manner they would have expressed a personal judgement on the theme of world hunger. Or they could have made the message of World Food Day more attractive by using the style of advertising photography - bathed in light and with a seductive aura. The artist has chosen a third path - without light and shade they become 22

24 pure information. Staff at the World Food Organisation in Rome (FAO) subsequently investigated which of their offices may have supported this exhibition.. 22

25 World Food Day 1998 installation detail 23

26 World Food Day 1998 (Bread, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo paper) 24

27 World Food Day 1998 (Flour, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo paper) 25

28 World Food Day 1998 (Potatoes, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo paper) 26

29 World Food Day 1998 (Milk, 186x125 cm. digital print on photo paper) 27

30 By Life Camp 2000 (installation work in progress). An idealised humanitarian camp, a turnkey project, set up in the the San Matteo tower of Castel Sant Angelo in Rome 28

31 By Life Camp 2000 (installation - overview - area covering 380 sq. m.) Synthetic grass, trees and topiary with Love slogan and Silverhouse tents arranged in order. At the centre is placed a stand for the distribution of gadgets; overhead the flags of Italy and the United Nations. 29

32 By Life Camp 2000 (detail of the tents) 30

33 By Life Camp 2000 (detail of the tents) 31

34 By Life Camp 2000 (advertisment) 32

35 By Life Camp 2001 (installation 450 sq.m.) This camp was set up in Venice at an art event linked to the Biennale. In this case, the artist has simulated a camp set up by the Italian army. In the area of the installation, concerned residents protested at its appearance. 33

36 By Life Green 2001 (installation, 15 sq. m) In Rome s Via Margutta, the artist created a display of humanitarian relief camp equipment ; as a place where all the necessary items for setting up of such a camp could be purchased. 34

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38 By Life Shop 2000 (installation 32 sq. m.) The logo of the United Nations is planted into this installation created at the Museo Macro in Rome. As previously, here we are again confronted with a simulation - a change of use scenario in which a large warehouse is substituted for the museum under reconstruction. The theme is that of department stores selling shaman s coats, sponsored by the United Nations. 36

39 By Life Shop shop window - detail of the installation 37

40 By Life Shop 2000 detail of the Shaman s coat 38

41 Vetrine art gallery transformed into a By Life shop The back-lit window displays promote various products, including works of the artist. 39

42 Vetrine 2001 (shop window, aluminium with interior lighting 200x85x21 cm.) 40

43 The best days of my life 2003 (puzzle, 17 pieces, whole 236 x 440 x 6 cm.) International intrigue is the subject of this cheerfully titled photo-romance. It is a puzzle made up of a series of panels that tell the story of a power struggle within an organisation similar to the US White House. 41

44 The best days of my life 2003 Panel [caption translates as Middle East - come out of there, Palestinian shits ] 42

45 The best days of my life 2003 Panel 43

46 The best days of my life 2003 Panel - [caption translates as Later, in a government office but what s going on at Nike? ] 44

47 The best days of my life 2003 Panel (132 x 82 x 5.5 cm) [Caption translates as Two days later on the 18th floor of UN HQ in New York - Norman chose this ] 45

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50 I The European Competition of Natural Food 2004 (Silesian lard, digital print on photo paper 171 x 125 cm.) The real and the unreal show themselves most clearly in the Polish foods represented in these works. The foods were bought in the Piazza Vittoria market in Rome and then were manipulated for the art work. The photographs of the fake food were printed on large panels and presented as real in Strasbourg, at the time when Poland entered the EU. The Polish flag is in the background of the images which show Silesian lard (actually axle grease for agricultural machinery) or Oleki salami (with a covering of sawdust). 48

51 Goats cheese form the Solskeij Puszczy mountains 2004 (digital print on photo paper 171 x 125 cm) 49

52 Olecki salami 2004 (digital print on photo paper 171 x 125 cm) 50

53 II The European Competition of Natural Food 2005 Galleria Nazionale d Arte Moderna, Rome. In this installation, the artist not only presented his invented food that were selected for the final but also each of them were given a back-story - a short documentary film that told the story of the origin of the food and its use over the centuries, up until their recent rediscovery in nouvelle cuisine. The food finalists were the Mecklenburg black beetroot - the German entry; Tuscan bacon loaf for Italy and the Norfolk Tuber for England. A committee made up of 7 members declared the winner to be the Tuscan bacon loaf. 51

54 Tuscan bacon loaf 2005 (digital print on photo paper 300 x 200 cm.) 52

55 Norfolk Tuber 2005 (digital print on photo paper 300 x 200 cm.) 53

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57 With the agreement of the artist, the Mayor of Suverto ( a small Tuscan Town) organised a Tuscan bacon loaf fair in his town, as one of the typical Italian celebrations of local foods. 55

58 The following year, 2006, the artist took a stand at the Nuremberg Biofach which is the biggest organic food fair in the world, where, with the agreement of the organisers, he displayed his non - existent organic foods. 56

59 Italian tables The artist s theme of food mania continues with a project of creating tables in white Carrara and black Belgian marble. The surfaces of the tables are covered with carved phrases - recipes that are part of a long list of 22,000. On the wall behind is an image of a tranquil sea while a recording plays - a voice reading out the recipes over a period of 12 hours 57

60 Italian tables 2007 (detail of the carved text) 58

61 Italian tables 2007 (7 tables in white Carrara and black Belgian marble, each on a metal support with baked enamel finish; marble slabs 150 x 75 x 2.5 cm.; height of tables 80 cm.) 59

62 Tables of Italy and Wanderer above the sea of food

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64 Sicurity In this video installation dated 2007, a security camera films the public entering the exhibition; its own image though does not appear on the monitor, it is trapped by the system that shows it 30 seconds later. This causes some discomfort in the public that doesn't know what has happened to its image, its identity. 62

65 Press 2007 (glass and monitor screen 150 x 90 cm., Giacomo Guidi gallery show in Rome) The theme of security and the mediated preservation of the memories of humanity are analysed in this work. The press is a machine that contains thousands of historical images, covering politics, society, culture and customs - from the 1960s until The soundtrack is made up of three sounds - the background noise is a continuous sound of a mechanical factory - this hold the attention of the spectator. The second sound is of a piston that pushes each image onto the screen, while the third is the press that crushes it. This crushing action has no negative intention; rather it sets up a rivalry between the machine and the minds of the viewers who are asked to remember the images that are brought before them. The images are thought to have been forgotten but are actually stored in the 63

66 memory and remembered as soon as they appear on screen. The speed at which the machine produces the images is greater however than the viewer s ability to give a name to them. 63

67 In 2008 the Press is multiplied - emerging from the organism of 101 screens at the Di Salvo electrical goods shop in Rome 64

68 CTMM (Videoinstallazione Auditorium Parco della Musica Roma) Mediatised memory is also analysed in the CTMM project (Centre for Treatment of Mediatised Material), presented with the support of Smart Elettrica vehicles. The project imagines that a power-station exists in the area around each large city. these CCTM function as data-gathering centres, collecting material sent in by citizens, associations, institutions, companies, schools and universities. The useful data will be included in the construction of a Web-library of Collective Memory while the rest is destined to be destroyed. The burning of the data produces clean energy that can be used by the population or, if there is a surplus, sold off. All the data sent to the power stations in the country will then go to form a Universal WE-library where they will be organised by general groups, subject categories and precise details. Each item is received or discarded automatically by the machine programme if judged to be suitable by the General Interest of Consciousness which is a criterion of ethical judgement shared by the city governing bodies and is inspired by the principles of material and spiritual well-being of all of its citizens. 65

69 CTMM 2010 (detail of the internal mechanics of the CTMM) 66

70 CTMM 2010 (detail of the internal mechanics of the CTMM) 67

71 La Pressa di Germania The video installation is set up in Berlin, at Fabrik Deutschland which is a former violin factory, now transformed and brought to life as a centre for the collection of images. These images are sent in by citizens, associations, institutions, companies, schools and universities and they concern the recent memories of the German people. Fabrik Deutschland collect, organises and stores the images by general groups, subject categories and precise details, thus creating a data bank made up of thousands of photographic records concerning political, social and cultural history of from the construction of the wall in 1961 to Each item is received or discarded automatically by the Fabrik machine, based on an ethical judgment criterion which is shared with the political and institutional powers of the country and inspired by the principles of material and spiritual well-being of all of its citizens. The data is gathering by receiving towers that are placed on the roof of the factory and transmitted inside to a large monitor and memorised through the crushing action of a mechanical press accompanied by a deafening background noise. The rhythmic effect produced by the crushing of the images contributes to the creation in the visitor a hypnotic spiral into which he or she will get sucked: as soon as one image appears on the screen, somewhere 68

72 the memory a memory of it will appear but which cannot be explored because suddenly it will be crushed and immediately substituted with another. 68

73 Repair Lab/Field Lab 2011 (tent, monitors, various elements) installation at the 54th Venice Biennale. Inside the military tent as used by Italian troops serving in Afghanistan, the artist created a field laboratory that preserves and stores the mediatised memory. 69

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75 Repair Lab/Field Lab 2011 (detail inside the tent) The artist has conceived the vision of this work with the monitors placed horizontally, so that the surface of the screen has a winnowing action - such as once was used by farmers to separate the wheat from the chaff. There are over 1000 images from social, political, economic and traditional history. 71

76 Repair Lab/Field Lab 2011 (detail of the vibrating belt) 72

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81 Private Collection Private Collection (mixed media on canvas or panel; earth, lead, wax and other media - measurements are actual size of the original paintings). This work concerns reproductions of works of art from the 1300s to the 1800s aged by traditional methods. The works are completed by museum style frames - one could speak here of cloned museums ; various sizes have been used and include reproductions of works by Raphael, Rembrandt, Turner, Caspar David Friedricj, Leonardo, Vermeer, Canaletto, Bronzino, Bruegel, Michelangelo, Rubens, David, Durer. The thinking behind this work is that of considering art as a living body that records and bears the traces of what is happening in reality around us.. Rembrandt: Dr Tulp's anatomy lesson, mixed media on canvas - cm 200x

82 Private Collection Bronzino: mixed media on panel cm 76x96 78

83 Millet, mixed media on canvas cm 110x83 79

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