Monday, October 28, 2002

Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World

Sunday, October 27, 2002


Gambero Rosso has opened a Food City, La Citta' del Gusto, here in Rome.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME via Genug.

ROME STORIES via plep.

Saturday, October 26, 2002

here today

New Drug: The Anglo-American bookstore in the center of Rome (near Piazza di Spagna) that can order books from just about anywhere.

Rai TV controversy regarding Pope Pius XII has animated alot of souls.
"What would Jesus have done?" asks Daniel Goldhagen at one point in this sustained diatribe against Catholic complicity in the genocide of the Jews. His own answer is clear: Jesus preached a faith of goodness and tolerance, and would have openly condemned the persecution of the Jews. The whole thrust of the argument of this book is to expose Christianity as a humbug. On the one hand a religion of love and brotherhood, on the other a political institution willing to turn a blind eye to mass murder when it suited it.

Harris is known for ground-breaking books on Roman imperialism and on literacy in the ancient world. His new book, a vastly ambitious attempt to cover nearly every aspect of anger in antiquity from Homer to early Christianity, breaks fresh ground again. Despite a somewhat rambling organisation and quirky remarks like the one just quoted (what's the evidence for neolithic views on revenge?), it is full of interest. Harris's only serious omission is anger in the context of war. The ancients had much to say about anger both as a major cause of war, including civil war, and as a potent factor in the fighting. Harris's neglect of the military aspects of his subject (just two brief entries in the index under 'war, warfare') is a surprising lapse.



Fascist Spectacle: The Aesthetics of Power in Mussolini's Italy (Studies on the History of Society and Culture) ....This richly textured cultural history of Italian fascism traces the narrative path that accompanied the making of the regime and the construction of Mussolini's power. Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi reads fascist myths, rituals, images, and speeches as texts that tell the story of fascism

FASCISTS VISIONS
The Unmaking of Fascist Aesthetics

ASPECTS OF THE AESTHETICS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Technoscience and the Avant-Garde

propaganda posters



Sunday, September 15, 2002

(Art as Idea as Idea)
Near the Tiber River

Yesterday I bought a coffetable book: LIVING IN ROME. From the book I see that Joseph Kosuth's house is near mine-- at Palazzo Santacroce near Campo dei Fiore. His studio (no paint just computer and books, you know, conceptual) is across the way near the Latin-American Institute with it's kinky grotto-like rocaille fountain.

Art "lives" through influencing other art, not by existing as the physical residue of an artist's ideas. The reason that different artists from the past are "brought alive" again is because some aspect of their work becomes "usable" by living artists. 'Joseph Kosuth'

During the time I was still teaching anatomia artistica at the Academy of Fine Arts here in Rome, I heard Kosuth speak at the Liceo Artistico. One of my students got his phone number and I called trying to get him involved in a project relating to anatomy. He was very pleasant but very managerial suggesting that, in participating, I would be able to take advantage of the fame he had but that I didn't.
Another artist that has a house near Campo dei Fiore and who is also very managerial is Mark Kostabi. I met Kostabi years ago when I was represented by Santo Ficaro in Florence. Santo was organizing an exhibiton for Kostabi. Santo didn't speak English and asked if I'd go to Florence to help translate. Kostabi and I posed together for alot of photos by Carlo Fei. I'm very embarassed posing but Kostabi was great. He went through a sequence of stock poses. A good idea to have if you're often photographed. The next day Kostabi invited me to lunch. He was very nice. Said that he'd just gotten out of a relationship which was wreaking him up because, he said, Without love I crumble. About 3 years ago I saw him at an exhibition at The American Academy in Rome. He didn't remember me. So I tried refereshing his memory by asking him to collaborate on another project I was working on at the time (wow, I use to have so many projects involving others...not anymore). But he said he was too busy composing music. Every so often I see him walking around Campo dei Fiore. He always has his hands full of shopping bags.
Kostabi works with Pio Monti, an art dealer I, too, have worked with. Only Pio buys Kostabi's paintings. Mine, instead, he's takes without paying. But Pio is very entertaining so if you're ever in town, visit the gallery: GALLERIA PIO MONTI, Via Pietro della Valle 2 (Prati), Roma.

Alain Fleischer took the photos for the book I mentioned above. I met Fleischer years ago at a dinner. He had done an installation for a show organized by Franco Posa of Arte in Comune, Gli Angeli sopra Roma. Using a video installation, Fleischer made the angels of Ponte Sant’Angelo talk. I liked the work alot because it was, you know, fun. I invited Fleischer to the Academy to speak to my students. He did. The women went wild because the guy is really sexy. Aesthetics is also attitude.



ROMAN RELATED LINKS: a site for exploring the Column of Trajan as a sculptural monument via plep--This image is a reconstruction of the ancient city of Rome. --Roman Architecture in the City of Rome--Maps of Rome --Hey! Welcome to Rome! It's about time you got here, you are about to visit the most wonderful city ever--Rome resources--This page lists sites that focus primarily on the actual city of Rome--the city of rome color coded