Digital advertisement found behind the Milan Duomo.
Research
Italy has many historic sites, many of which have been standing for centuries. They were of great significance in society at the time of their creation, but now their importance has changed.
Nowadays, they are known as must-see tourist spots on any European holiday. Their connection to society has shifted from religious importance to that of consumer attraction. These monuments have survived time and age, but their sentiment has been ‘contaminated’ to be more appealing to the
wider public.
What is their purpose in modern-day society?
How has history influenced our perception of these monuments?
What memories have been lost to time?
Image from inside Castello dell'Imperatore in Prato.
World Heritage Destinations Rated
National Geographic
As of 2023, there are 1,157 World Heritage across the globe, 58 being found in Italy. As a way to ensure the conditions of these sites, the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations, with George Washington University, conducts a Destination Scorecard survey. In 2009, a panel of 419 experts in sustainable tourism and destination stewardship rated 94 World Heritage destinations.
Places like Siena, Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast were between 66-85, being described as having minor difficulties. Whereas Venice and its lagoons were rated between 26 and 45, stating that they were in serious trouble.
Echo
Bettina Pousttchi (2009/2010)
This large-format, site-specific photographic work covered the exterior walls of the Temporäre Kunsthalle, a contemporary art gallery in Berlin. The gallery was covered with a digitally edited collage of archival images of the glass-and-steel facade of the Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic), which had once been located nearby. The Palast der Republik was a cultural centre, it held two large auditoria, art galleries, a theatre, restaurants and a bowling alley. It was closed in 1990 due to asbestos contamination and later demolished in 2008.
I found this installation quite unique in how it paid homage to this building lost to time. Utilising edited imagery to reconstruct the old facade, Pousttchi created her interpretation of the building. I want to mimic this technique, editing collected imagery of Italian monuments and illustrating details that are often missed by tourists when walking through the crowds.
An Unreadable Quadrat-Print
Bruno Munari (1953)
This publication featured no words on any numbered pages, creating a book that didn’t have to ‘fall’ in the right order. An Unreadable Quadrat-Print presented a collection of unique difficulties when printing and binding the pieces together. The use of colours was simplistic, but there was great consideration for the placement of various cut pages. Placing them in the right order to achieve the variation in images when the pages turn. This publication speaks to the sculptural process and results in making books, as well as the sculptural process of reading them.
I want to take this idea of ‘contaminated’ imagery a step further and create a publication that also appears altered. I want to create pages that seem illegible and make the reader confused, I want some spreads to appear to have no meaning despite being about these historic monuments. I want to create a publication that exemplifies the varying purposes of these sites as they have evolved to survive time and society.