[spectre] ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!! - press release

[Domenico Quaranta]

ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!!

Curated by: Matteo Bittanti and Domenico Quaranta
For: Neoludica. Art Is A Game 2011 – 1966
54. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte – la Biennale di Venezia,
Collateral Events
Sala Dei Laneri, Santa Croce 131, Venezia
June 1 – November 27, 2011

ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!! is an alternative Italian pavillion, an  
irreverent and bold retrospective celebrating the artistic  
interventions of several generations of tinkerers that use videogames  
as both tools and means, subject and object of their practices, point  
of departure and arrival of a techno-ludic exploration. Since the  
early Nineties, Italian artists have been manifesting an irresistible  
attraction for digital gaming. They have introduced new original  
formats – like machinima and political & critical games – an  
investigated the cultural, social, and economic impact of this medium  
while the local couch potatoes were distracted by the rise and rise of  
commercial television.
Designed for the first edition of NEOLUDICA. ART IS A GAME 2011 -  
1966, ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!! pays homage to a multitude of artistic  
trajectories, showcases the most recent developments, and imagines  
possible futures. The title is both celebratory and sarcastic, if not  
openly polemic: it reminds us that the ongoing failure of the Italian  
videogame industry is counterbalanced by a prodigious explosion of  
original and innovative game-related artistic projects. It also  
questions the very notion of "Italian-ness", as several artists  
featured in the exhibition have long fled the country for political  
and cultural reasons. ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!! thus asks “What does it  
mean to be an "Italian" artist working with video-games, today?”.
As Matteo Bittanti suggests, «Beneath an apparent jingoistic  
commemoration of “italian-ness” lies a critical exploration of such  
puzzling notion through the filter of videogame-informed art. Rather  
than providing a simple and unequivocal answer to an apparently  
straightforward question, the premise & promise of this exhibition is  
that Italians “can work miracles when you least expect it”. These  
mavericks are our cultural radars».
Domenico Quaranta further elaborates: «Italian art has made a decisive  
contribution to the recognition of videogames as one of the basic  
forms of contemporary culture and, more generally, to the reflection  
on videogame as a cultural artifact. The importance of this  
contribution can be measured by both the timeliness of some results,  
and by its quality. We felt it was was necessary to document these  
achievements in an event in which could reach a mass audience, and  
thus stimulate a broader conversation.»
Come to Venice to see - and play - with the past, present, and future  
of Italian Game Art. After all, ITALIANS DO IT BETTER!!

Artists: Matteo Bittanti + IOCOSE, Marco Cadioli, Mauro Ceolin,  
Damiano Colacito, Les Liens Invisibles, Miltos Manetas, Eva & Franco  
Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG, Molleindustria, Antonio Riello, Santa  
Ragione, Federico Solmi, Stefano Spera, Tonylight, Vjvisualoop, Carlo  
Zanni.

Press Material:
http://italiansdoit.wordpress.com/press/

More info:
http://italiansdoit.wordpress.com/
http://www.neoludica.it/

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Domenico Quaranta

web. http://domenicoquaranta.com/
email. info at domenicoquaranta.com
mob. +39 340 2392478
skype. dom_40