Happy Italian memories

Livorno, 2008

Banksy, the inherent contradiction of myth

In the run up to the Oscars, which saw Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop nominated for Best Documentary Feature, 3 new artworks appeared in the LA cityscape, created by anonymous guerrilla graffiti artist Banksy.  But there is an inherent contradiction in the work of the carnivalesque creative, who relies on the very myths he purports to challenge. Banksy’s optical references to the institutions he mocks rely upon a general knowledge and acceptance of that myth. The image of two British policemen embracing is one such example. The bastions of the British institution are denoted through a visual representation of the accessories, or signs, that surround them including batons, handcuffs, helmets and so on. For many, these institutional signs signify trust, honour and protection and combine to form the myth of the British policeman of which Barthes wrote in Mythologies. Such myths are the backbone of contemporary national identity. These immediately recognizable state representatives are undermined in carnivalesque spirit due to the situation in which they are presented, which contradicts the myth in general acceptance. In the same way that he requires the existence of public space as provided by the institution as the canvas for his graffiti, the effectiveness of the work relies on the existence of the myth to function, depending on its acceptance in order to undermine it. His pre-Oscar subversive works seem more an intelligent act of marketing than a subversive message. 

Portobello, Scotland. February 2011

Are museums our new churches?

Listen to Alain de Botton's ideas here

La meglio gioventù, Tullio Giordana (2003)

Watch the beautiful trailer

Dipped back in to La meglio gioventu' this weekend. This 6-hour long visual masterpiece, originally aired on state television and later released in cinemas, going on to win the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in 2003, follows the lives of brothers Nicola and Matteo from the mid 60s to 2003. It gives the most beautiful overview of forty years of Italian history, authentic enough to make even those of us born long after the period in question nostalgic. Faultless visual references to times gone by are underpinned by a delicate soundtrack that enhances but never intrudes.
The brothers are university students of the ’68 generation and have had the same institutional and familial education but as they age, their lifestyles and morals diverge. While Nicola embraces the archetypal ’68 experience – protesting and travelling – Matteo enters the army and later the polizia, embracing institutional rules and regulations (his violent treatment of suspects under questioning is reminiscent of the events leading to the death of Pinelli, which inspired Fo’s morte accidentale). Interestingly, cultural heritage and the arts are what seems to bring characters together. Nicola and Matteo are reunited in Florence at the time of the floods in ’66, Nicola is first drawn to his wife as she plays the piano and while she is in prison sends her music scores, Mirella takes photographs of Matteo which are presented in an exhibition, viewed by Nicola after Matteo’s suicide, which ignites their relationship . The most stark distinction though lies between Matteo and Nicola’s wife Giulia, who enters into the Brigate Rosse (the Italian terrorist brigade), later leaving her family and becoming an assassin. The divide in the ’68 generation between those distrustful of institutional power or authority of any sort, and those searching for rules and regulations – a division that, arguably, led to the anni di piombo in Italy – is represented in these two diametrically opposed characters. Interestingly, the event that marked the culmination of this tumultuous period, the Moro Affair, is absent from the film that was released on the thirtieth anniversary of the tragedy. Is this symptomatic of desired national amensia? Who knows. But learn Italian and watch this stunning overview of national memory, please.