alpha words - blog of alessandro fais

Italy’s protagonist in Politics and Economy, aspiring President of the Republic in Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (il Cavaliere) has decided to prevent further accuses and most probably saved his own reputation. He has taken a step back in the promotion of new proposal of law to stop all interceptions of private communications. His personal fight against the beholders of the Giuridical Power (il Consiglio Superiore di Magistratura, CSM) has reached a new limit only a few months away from his last election when he decided to promote this series of laws with urgency and immediate applicability. This has generated a separation from the dialogue of the left wing of the House, PD (Democratic Party) and IdV (Di Pietro’s party) and UDC, part of the ideological residue of former Democrazia Cristiana. This will prevent his Government to have a large consens from the Parlament so no institutional reforms could technically pass the approval of the House.
It seems he has changed his mind in the need to change the Constitution. What they are and when he will be able to reach these results will be interesting to know since up to now the efforts of this new Government has concentrated mainly on the problems of his own person, il Cavaliere.

Updates: 14/07/08

The once-judge leader of Italia dei Valori (IdV), Antonio Di Pietro, has decided to reppresent the “Piazza”, the people that have appeared in Piazza Navona  a few days ago for another one of Beppe Grillo’s free shows. This time the event concentrated on the violation of liberties of entire categories (as press, which has a levels of freedom of speech close to a couple of countries with many more problems than Italy) from new sets of laws promoted by Berlusconi. Orwell would have been proud hearing quotations from his “Animal Farm” fly through the country as artists, intellectuals and free-thinkers once again tried to explain how critical the situation actually is.

And if you have a hard time believing this what can we think about the recent diplomatic accident between USA and Italy on the non authorized bibliography of Mr. Silvio Berlusconi? And try reading about this little fella.

Ciao,
Alessandro

© Bill Eppridge/Life/©Time, Inc from the digital journalist

inside Milano’s central train station

Sotto il patrocinio del Comune, quest’anno la bella cittadina di Senigallia ha accolto tre ondate di giovani fotografi da tutta Italia nella sua Bottega Fotografica. In altrettanti fine settimana sono stati organizzati dei brevi workshop con grandi maestri italiani della fotografia per lasciare la loro impronta culturale sulle giovani leve aiutandoli a trovare delle linee guida nel loro percorso visivo. Giovanni Chiaromonte, intellettuale italiano e pensatore, filosofo dell’immagine, Ferdinando Scianna, siciliano della Magnum, la celebre agenzia fotogiornalistica, ed infine Gianni Berengo Gardin, della Contrasto, noto per i suoi poetici istanti catturati per le strade d’Italia. Tre giorni ogni tre workshop sul Reportage con fotografi under 35 selezionati dal comitato organizzatore e dai Maestri. Le foto dei workshop verranno esibite in una (o più) mostre collettive di cui verranno diffuse notizie appena definiti i particolari. Intanto è disponibile un assaggio delle visioni dei fotografi selezionati.

Una delle più belle iniziative in Italia in questo momento e che speriamo trovi continuazione.

Alessandro

Ancona Storta
Ancona, Marche
Italy, 2008

No one, deep inside, wants a uniform.

No one desires to work badly.

The more conscientious he is, having a family or strong values, the less he desires to work in a “bad” environment and conditions.

The uniform is a violence: it creates a divergence between outside and inside, between work and no work, outside. As if it could be ever possible to distinguish between the two dimensions, to be involuntary actors or spectators of an unreal drama. This alienation can be forced, induced, by the system in control, by the owners of power.

If this is the will of a firm, a company, then it will force its workers in this situation.

If this is not its will then everything must be done to allow the individuals that compose it to improve it and improve themselves, to consider their firm as their house, their home, as vital for their survival as well as the survival of their families, friends or, in a more general sense of their society or animal species.

Which firm/company can survive imposing its will to its workers that are, uno after the other, equal constituents of it’s thickness, to create the essence of the firm itself? A company is not made by machines because they lack thought and heart. They cannot employ emotional forces which allow by far many more results than computers (which are always programmed by men…)

Everyday life.

Nessuno dentro di sè vuole la divisa.

Nessuno ha piacere a lavorare male.

Più è coscienzioso, perchè ha una famiglia e dei valori, meno vuole lavorare male.

L’uniforme e la tuta, sono una violenza: impongono un distacco tra dentro e fuori, tra lavoro e non lavoro. Come se fosse possibile distinguere, essere attori involontari o spettatori di un dramma distaccato dal mondo reale, che è radicalmente diverso. Questa alienazione può essere indotta dal sistema di controllo e potere.

Se questa vuol essere la volontà di un’azienda questo imporrà ai suoi lavoratori.

Se non è questo il suo volere deve far di tutto per farlo capire a coloro che la compongono mettendoli nelle condizioni di migliorare e migliorarsi, di considerare la propria azienda come la propria casa perchè vitale alla sopravvivenza loro, della loro famiglia, dei loro amici o più in generale della società o specie animale che rappresentano.

Ma quale azienda può sopravvivere imponendosi con la forza ai suoi lavoratori che sono, uno dopo l’altro, uguali costituenti del suo spessore, per costituire la sua essenza? Un’azienda non è fatta di macchine perchè queste non pensano e non hanno cuore, non spingono con le forze emozionali che ottengono molti più risultati di qualsiasi computer (che è sempre programmato da un uomo…).

Ed è esperienza di vita.

Homogeneity of the appearance of a photographic image guarantees completeness to a body of images. It bundles them visually and physically into a One, a Unit, enforcing their weight and importance. Just as “the look” of a painter’s work is given by colours and stroke, canvas and themes so it is with a photographer’s work. 35mm or 6×7, APS or FF, TMax of FP, these choices determine the final result.

With digital acquisition media the frequent upgrades of “hardware” and continuous instability of the photographic market make it hard to find an adequate candidate for a thorough, complete, life long body of photographic work.

Or is film still the easiest and most adequate solution?

Updates: 14/07/08

I halve talked nonsense.

Ciao,
Alessandro

In gran silenzio si è da pochissimo conclusa la seconda dizione del Premio Fotografia Italiana arte contemporanea. Lo scopo del premio è quello di mettere il luce i giovani talenti emergenti italiani in campo fotografico per valorizzare il patrimonio nazionale e dargli l’occasione di esibire i loro lavori. La giuria si è riunita ed ha decretato i vincitori in questi giorni (immagino, io me ne sono accorto oggi).

Non c’è stato un annuncio stampa e non ci sono state mai comunicazioni ai partecipanti che hanno inviato le loro opere alla cortese attenzione della galleria e dei giudici.

I vincitori di quest’anno sono: Roberto Toja, Nicola Cioni e Roberto Marossi.

Mi piacerebbe potervi mostrare una o più foto rappresentative di ogni autore per comprenderne lo stile, discutere dei suoi lavori, capirne lo spessore artistico ma non ne ho trovate (solo il sito di Roberto Toja è a disposizione).

Complimenti anche agli altri sette finalisti: Emanuela Bartolotti, Elena Bozza, Michele Buda, Claudio Gobbi, Camilla Micheli, Simone Schiesari e Monica Tarocco.

Ed anche ai rimanenti 290 partecipanti.

Beppe Grillo, Italy’s most well known comedian and blogger has just concluded his Vaffanculo 2 (V2) Day, a one day event with theme: Information and its control in Italy. As Berlusconi (”Tar Head” reffered to his well known hair implants) chose “Forza Italia”, the most popular italian phrase for the world cup, as name for his famous right wing liberal party that announced his political engagement in 1994, Beppe Grillo has chosen “Vaffanculo” as his slogan, the most popular italian phrase while driving (and if you’ve ever driven in Italy you know why). On the national festivity day of Libertation against Fascism and clearly inspired by the Wachowski’s “V for Vendetta” Beppe’s (absolutely free) show in Turin’s Piazza San Carlo announced itself as the place of Liberation from control of information (and from the impositions of political parties).

He covered almost all the themes present in his popular blog: from freedom of press and information to financial aids towards political parties and newspapers, from politicians in parliament which have been convicted of crimes (24 after the new elections of mid april) to crimes made by state officials which are being covered up by “the system”. He also decided to give voice to the people against high speed trains, the “No Tav” movement of the Val di Susa, as well as the citizens united against the expansion of the american aviation base in Vicenza, the mayors of eco-friendly cities and professors from around the world close to his fight against political lies, attachement to power and corruption.

Comedy has never been so serious. But are italians reacting? The recent defeat of the extreme left wing, for the first time absent from the italian parliament, might suggest a mass approach of the no globalists, the protestants and many intellectuals, artists and thinkers, to the movement that is being spurred to move and act by Beppe. In Piazza Castello, a few hundreds of yards away from Piazza San Carlo, the “official” manifestation for the Day of Liberation occurred, usually sponsored by the extreme, left wing in antithesis to the right wing, still ideologically close to Mussolini’s Fascist party, but the mass was elsewhere and the “communists” where alone in their attempt to attract the people, apparently more interested in a nice stride under the pleasant sun (or in Beppe’s show not far away).