Roberto Zancan: Valentina, can you describe the program for this season of the Milan branch of the Istituto Svizzero di Roma? Can you explain how you chose the Concerto Locale (Local Concert) performance and how it fits into the concept of the work presented in the exhibition?
Valentina Sansone: Bureau for Art Nerds was a series of appointments consisting of 2 exhibitions and 5 one-evening events taking place at the Milan branch of the Istituto Svizzero di Roma, and in public and self-run spaces around the city through 26 June. The Bureau involves newly founded self-run projects from Switzerland and from Milan and experiments a certain typology of events that by nature refuse any definition as such but which have had to be defined as "non-happenings" in order to initiate a series of critical reflections. By "non-happening" I don't simply refer to improvised artistic actions that take place in unconventional venues, but at the same time it is about changing entities, open and nomad, ephemeral initiatives characterized by a performative nature that activate an analysis of all those tools that follow a collective practice.
Part of the project takes place in different venues around the city of Milan (the historical Casa Morigi, self-run since 1976, non-profit spaces O' and Gasconade and the state school Liceo Artistico Caravaggio, near Via Padova); another part of the Bureau was on show at the Milan branch of the Istituto Svizzero di Roma, which on this occasion is promoting a network of a series of connections and events that support non-institutional subjects and non-institutional practices.
For Weinberger performance in Milan she invited 40 non-professionals contacted via email or by telephone, starting from the Bureau network, thus activating a social mechanism and a process of exchange through a word-of-mouth and an informal invitation
Hannah Weinberger: In my show there were around 40 people actively involved in the production of the final work that was then turned into an exhibition. It was the first time that a performative act generated and activated my work, which will remain on view for several weeks, in the form of the deserted performance set-up, devoid of everything save for the computer speakers, each playing its track on a loop.
Participation is an important aspect of the creation of my work. 40 individuals created 40 tracks, each one an hour long, recorded in 40 channels on one unit and played as a one-hour loop. Each participant worked on his/her own track, trying not to be distracted by the others, to find a certain rhythm, so as to create his/her own composition. Each individual was a composer for one hour; trained musicians next to artists and people coming from all kinds of backgrounds. They engaged, for that very moment, in the production of sound limited by the possibilities of the software I asked them to use, or whatever they brought to connect with a mini jack plug. From a distance, the 40 people seated at tables, all with open laptops, looked uniform, each busy making his/her own music.
VS: The performance Concerto locale (Local concert) has been an opportunity to start a critical process that questions the idea of a group and that surprised us for the dynamics that it triggered. The starting point was that of presenting, recounting Hannah's work to the potential performers in order to involve them in the project, beginning from a personal level, then talking to students and, little by little, widening the communication channels through social networks. Milan-based Anonima Nuotatori and Gasconade, for instance, participated in the performance and have been involved on a personal level and through a personal relationship thanks to the Bureau net, whilst the others have established a totally casual relationship with the artist: a student found a flyer for the performers open call on the ground, researched the project and eventually took part in it!
HW: Yes, it was fun and the Istituto Svizzero crew put a lot of personal effort into this project.. and they participated as well in the performance. Also thanks to them I now have a bunch of new friends in Milan!