– Alberto Camerini
Prologo ed ecfrasi su Alberto Camerini
[Prologue and ekphrasis on Alberto Camerini]
film and mixed media installation
2016-2017
A portrait of singer-songwriter Alberto Camerini.
Evoking certain key moments of his career, the film outlines the peculiarities of his style, bringing together pop, punk, folk, and electronic music. This style draws on the one hand from the Commedia dell’Arte, Giambattista Tiepolo, and the Venetian Settecento, and on the other from technological innovations and the dawn of the computer age.
Camerini's trajectory — encompassing his beginnings within the radical Left in Milan, his breakthrough as a pop star, and his steep decline — is evoked against the backdrop of the so-called riflusso: a general retreat into the private sphere and a concomitant political and social disengagement that characterized Italy's transition from the 1970s to the 1980s.
Produced by Sky Arte Italia and Careof as part of the ArteVisione 2016 production award.
Essay
Harlequin, Punk, Robot, 2017
Film excerpt
A film by Riccardo Giacconi
With Alberto Camerini
Archive images Alberto Camerini, Silvia Perego
In collaboration with Carolina Valencia Caicedo
Executive producer Marta Bianchi (Careof)
Sound Attila Faravelli
Color correction Andrea Maggiolo
Graphic design Giulia Marzin
Full Film (English subtitles)
* * *
The installation presents a series of costumes displayed on structures reminiscent of Japanese ikou (kimono racks).
Each costume is exhibited alongside a wooden mask, specifically crafted by artisans from Barbagia, a mountainous inland region of Sardinia, following the traditional iconography of the area's ancient Carnival.
In collaboration with Carolina Valencia Caicedo, Gonario Denti, Franco Maritato, Ruggero Mameli and Progetto MUSE.
Installation views, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France
Various versions of the project have been exhibited at: Fondamenta – New Entries, Artissima art fair, Italy; UNA Galleria, Piacenza, Italy (2019); Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow, Russia; Mostra internazionale del Nuovo Cinema, Pesaro, Italy (2018); FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France; Filmmaker Festival, Milano, Italy; Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy (2017); Museo del 900, Milano, Italy (2016).