Colosseum Placemat-
(Text on placemat translated into english)
"When looking at infrastructure trends and the presence of art in cities we see that locations with more heritage tend to be more academic and more likely to invest in preserving their heritage and less interested in supporting new works of art, while locations with less infrastructure and less heritage often have more of an interest in art in their public spaces and invest both private and public money in contemporary arts to foster this."
Pisa Placemat-
(Text on placemat translated into english)
"Why do our Italian cities and towns look the way they do? Is it the laws and permits that make it extremely difficult to bring new creative energy into our public spaces, or is it because our culture historically believes that we do not have ownership of public spaces in our communities. Conditions such as these leave us with decaying monumental architecture that attracts tourists, quick acts of vandalism, graffiti, and commercial advertisements, while at the same time preventing new challenging and experimental works of art from becoming part of the cityscape."
Pantheon Placemat
(Text on placemat translated into english)
"Dear people of Italy, the masters have left us in a decaying hell. We are too scared to make a move, to change anything. It is a trap. We are so cautious we have prevented our own progress and become stale, while other places around the world naturally allow every generation to contribute to its own life. We are like the child who suffers his whole life in the shadow of a father who has done too many great things and is widely admired and respected for it, we are not free, we are always in reference to him. We are struggling for fresh air to breathe amongst all this history. Oh the pain we are in! like babies wrapped so tightly in our blankets we can't move, just cry for more of mother's milk."
DO NOT DISTURB
The complexities of Public Space in Italy - Series of three Italian Placemats
2011
Biella, Itlay
In cooperation with several restaurants, bars, and cafes in the small city of Biella, Italy, DO NOT DISTURB is a series of three unique and provocative disposable placemats that provide an image and text (in Italian) about the complexities of public space in Italy. Each day these placemats were placed on restaurant tables providing an immediate and visually critical response as to why Italian cities look the way they do, while provoking conversation as customers sit and wait for their food.