Re-Programmed Art an Open Manifesto

SUPSI University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland Laboratory of visual culture

Re-Programmed Art An Open Manifesto

Laboratorio Cultura Visiva WeMake supsi-dacd-lcv associazione culturale Campus Trevano via Stefanardo da Vimercate 27/5 ch-6952 Canobbio it-20128 Milano 2 supsi - WeMake

front cover table of contents Gianni Colombo, Spazio elastico, (1967), Biennale di Venezia 1968. 1 Description Abstract Context Project

2 Goals

3 Durable outcomes

4 Schedule Project phases Events

5 Biographic profiles

contact information Re-Programmed Art: an Open Manifesto 3

1. Description

Abstract In the sixties, the group of artists known as Gruppo T created artworks that turned the audience into active users. Through the organization of a workshop and an exhibition, the project aims at involving a group of artists and designers from Re-Programmed Art: an open manifesto both Italy and Switzerland in a process of open source re-programming of artworks by Grup- po T. The artists are supposed to expand the works by Gruppo T through the programming of interactive behaviors with open source technology, and to release the documentation under Creative Commons licenses in order to grant reproducibility and further extension by other authors.

Context At the beginning of the sixties, the idea to complete an artwork with the action and interaction of the audience becomes real thanks to the experimentation of artistic groups who pioneered the introduction of technology and of an algorithmic approach in the process of production of their works. Concerning this kind of experimentation, the works by the artists of Gruppo T represent a reference point for the interpretation of the art that was defined as Programmed Art, and eventually served as a base for the development of interactive arts. Through the production of interactive environment and artifacts encompassing kinetic mechanisms and optical effects, and by combining design, arts and technology, Grup- po T proposed new codes for understanding art, where the audience was turned into active users and co-authors of artworks by taking part into the creative act through the direct action of their body. Nowadays this concept of participated creation of interactive artworks is undergoing a reconfiguration: open design, the development of open source software and hardware, and the diffusion of Creative Commons licenses allow for the enactment of collaborative projects, where users and co-authors become members of communities spread over the internet, sharing knowledge in order to complete or expand the work of other artists and designers. The project focuses on the impact of the introduc- Re-Programmed Art: an open manifesto tion in the artistic field of methods and approaches typical to open design, open software and hardware, such as the development of physical and technological artifacts whose information and implementation specifications are publicly released under Creative Commons licenses. Through the organization of a workshop and an exhibition, the project aims at involving a group of digital artists both from Switzerland and Italy in the process of repro- gramming the works of programmed art by Gruppo T. During hacking sessions, artists are asked to expand the works of Gruppo T through the implementation of interactive behaviors designed through open source hardware and software technologies, and to release an open documentation under Creative Commons licenses in order to support reproducibility, ex- 4 supsi - WeMake

tension and further participatory developments of these re-programmed artworks by the public at large. Digital artists and designers involved in the project are supported in the hacking process and the production of new re-programmed artworks by members of Grup- po T as well as by scholars in the field of open source technology, open design and Creative Commons. The collaboration with artists of Gruppo T and scholars allows to do research on the issue of the extension of main concepts of programmed art through the integration of processes, methods and techniques of open source domains. The results of the project are exposed during an event-exhibition in the premises of our Italian partner WeMake. The show encompasses the description of the process of hacking of the artworks by Gruppo T, the new artworks and the open documentation by artists and designers involved in the project, as well as critical and theoretical texts. All the results can be improved and expanded in a collaborative way.

Project Programmed art is the definition given to the body of works by a group of Italian artists active between the end of the fifties and the beginning of the sixties. This definition was introduced by Bruno Munari and Umberto Eco in December 1961, for the publication of Al- by Bompiani and on the occasion of the exhibition hosted in Milan at the manacco Letterario Olivetti show room in 1962, featuring works by Munari, Enzo Mari and the artists of Gruppo T (Giovanni Anceschi, Davide Boriani, Gianni Colombo, Gabriele Devecchi, Grazia Varisco) and by Gruppo N. These artists produced works through the application of processes similar to those of technological and design research, such as creating prototypes that were then reproduced as a series of varying artifacts. On that occasion, Bruno Munari proposed a history of arts alternative to that one based on traditional craftsmanship: total experimentation versus brush and chisel. It was the beginning of the technological revolution of electronics. Space-time, transformation, variation, participation: these are the keywords of Grup- po T. Nowadays, in our hyper-industrial and “liquid” society, we are experiencing the matu- ration of cybernetics and informatics, and we witness a deep consonance with the work of these precursors. Gruppo T prefigured a mobile, variable, metamorphic world. It was the beginning of the sixties, yet their art was already interactive and immersive. Nevertheless at that time their artworks were difficult to be read, understood and accepted. The interactive artworks by Gruppo T involve the body of users: the public is no longer passive. The user is given a free rein to play with the artwork, and becomes a co-author. The user is programmatically put at the center of the work. If Futurism put the audience at the center of the artwork, Gruppo T transformed the audience together with the artwork. At the end of 1958, the young artists who would eventually co-found Gruppo T exhibited Re-Programmed Art: an Open Manifesto 5

their works at the Sala Patriziale in Bellinzona (Ticino, Switzerland). The results of this project are a workshop and an exhibition, together with a multimedia documentation including: - a description of the hacking process of the artworks by Gruppo T; - a tutorial of the open source versions of the projects by the artists and designers involved; - critical and theoretical texts. 6 supsi - WeMake

2. Goals

The project aims at: Re-Programmed Art: an open manifesto - contributing to the study and dissemination of the history of Italian Gruppo T, through the collection of material (texts, pictures, drawings, videos) on the artworks by the group; - applying the approach of open design, open knowledge, open hardware and Creative Commons licenses in order to revive the concept at the base of programmed art – reproducibility of artworks; - producing documentation of the technical specifications of the works produced during the workshop and release them under Creative Commons licenses through a process of collaborative hacking.

This information (texts, pictures, drawings, videos, technical specifications, codes, etc.) is collected on a web platform for the dissemination of the contents of the project. The platform allows the group of artists based in Italy and Switzerland to rethink the works by Grup- po T through a workshop of hacking. During the workshop, digital artists and interaction designers are asked to reconfigure and redesign the works by Gruppo T through the implementation of interactive behaviors that can be programmed through open source hardware and software technologies (e.g. Arduino). Re-Programmed Art: an Open Manifesto 7

3. Durable outcomes

The following are the envisioned durable outcomes of the project: - fostering collaboration among Swiss schools, Italian main actors in the field of open design, and design brands on an issue of common interest, with effects on research and education and with the goal of establishing a trans-boundary network on issues such as arts, design new production and prototyping systems (e.g. fablabs, open source movement); - starting a network of digital artists and designers, both Italian and Swiss, in order to develop the production and collaboration on the themes of open source and Creative Com- mons licenses in the domain of arts; - contributing to the development of a methodology for the dissemination of issues related to open design, open source, open knowledge, Creative Commons licenses in the domain of visual arts, by producing educational formats and tools under open licenses; - reinforcing cultural exchanges between Italy and Switzerland on cutting edge cultural issues with studies, activities, networking among companies and institutions; - strengthening the specific competences of the institutions involved (interaction design for SUPSI, multimedia arts for ECAV, open design and digital fabrication for WeMake). 8 supsi - WeMake

4. Schedule

Project phases The project is divided into five phases with two public events in Italy and Switzerland.

1. Study of the history and works of Gruppo T, January-June 2014 During this first phase, SUPSI and ECAV, together with witnesses and scholars involved, develop a database for all the necessary materials for the following steps, such as a catalogue of interactive and multimedia artworks subject of study, and material on Gruppo T useful for both the workshop and the exhibition.

2. Preparation and organization of the workshop, July-August 2014 SUPSI takes care of the organization of the workshop at the campus in Trevano. All study materials are finalized and made available together with raw materials for the reconstruc- tion of the artworks.

3. Workshop and finissage in Canobbio, 1-7 September 2014 During the workshop all participants gather for a week at the SUPSI campus in Trevano. The workshop is open to the public for the whole week, it produces visual documentation, and the lectures by witnesses and scholars (Giovanni Anceschi, Massimo Banzi, Davide Boriani, Federica Martini, Sibylle Omlin, Iolanda Pensa, Zoe Romano, Azalea Seratoni, Grazia Varisco) are open to a wider audience. A selection of five versions of artworks by Gruppo T, renewed in their functional and behavioral parts, is the final result of the workshop, presented in a session of finissage.

4. Preparation of the exhibition, October 2014-February 2015 In the months after the workshop the project team ranges the materials produced system- atically, makes them homogeneous, prepares the exhibition design, corrects and finalizes the five prototypes, releases the project documentation under Creative Commons licenses.

5. Exhibition in Milan, 5-29 March 2015 At the end of the project all results are gathered in an exhibition hosted Istituto Svizzero di Roma - Sede di Milano. A conference on Thursday 6 March 2015 is devoted to the presentation of the project and is the occasion of the vernissage of the exhibition.

Events A. Workshop and finissage at SUPSI campus of Treva- Re-Programmed Art: an open manifesto no, Canobbio (CH), September 1-7, 2014. B. Exhibition at ISR, Milan (IT), March 5-29, 2015. Re-Programmed Art: an open manifesto Re-Programmed Art: an Open Manifesto 9

5. Biographic profiles

Serena Cangiano - SUPSI Davide Fornari - SUPSI Graduated in Communication sci- Davide Fornari, after studying ar- ences with a thesis on the evolution chitecture at IUAV in Venice and of audiovisual language toward in- ETSA in Barcelona, earned a Ph.D. teractivity, she specialized in tech- in Design sciences from the School nology and communication of the of Doctorate Studies – Universi- cultural heritage at the University ty Iuav of Venice. He is a tenured of Lugano with a study about dig- teacher researcher at the Labora- ital archives of interactive art. She tory of visual culture, SUPSI Uni- collaborated on projects about vir- versity of Applied Sciences and Arts tual archaeology (Virtual Heritage of Southern Switzerland, in Luga- Lab, CNR Rome) and developed no. He coordinates the Master of projects concerning the commu- Advanced Studies in Interaction nication of audio-visual archives Design and teaches Interaction de- through web applications (Innet- sign and History of graphic design project, 2007). After working in the and typography at the BA in Visual field of information architecture Communication. and user experience design, she is His Ph.D. thesis “Il volto come currently carrying out projects of interfaccia” (“Face as Interface”, applied research at the Interaction Milan 2012) was awarded a grant design lab at SUPSI. She has taught for publication from the Swiss Na- interaction design at the BA in Vi- tional Science Foundation. He has sual communication SUPSI (Cross contributed with texts and designs Media Lab 2011, 2012). She is the to exhibitions in Venice, Barcelona, assistant of the Master of Advanced Genova, Locarno, Geneva and Mi- Studies in Interaction Design SUP- lan. He is a contributor of Domus, SI and coordinator of the summer Alias, Ottagono, Progetto Grafico, courses in interaction design, a and has published essays for Sell- series of workshops focusing on erio, Einaudi, ./edizioni, and et al teaching the fundamentals of soft- Treccani, among others. ware and hardware programming through design and prototyping activities. In the meanwhile, she co-manages the activities of Fa- bLab SUPSI Lugano (www.fablab. supsi.ch). 10 supsi - WeMake

Massimo Banzi - Arduino/SUPSI Costantino Bongiorno – WeMake Federica Martini – ECAV Massimo Banzi is the co-founder of Graduated in Mechanical Engi- Federica Martini is an art histori- the Arduino project. He is an inter- neering, he got interested in auto- an and curator. She worked as cu- action designer, educator and open mation, domotics and soon started rator at Castello di Rivoli Museum source hardware advocate. He has to explore the world of microcon- of Contemporary Art in Turin and worked as a consultant for clients trollers. at Musée cantonal de Beaux-Arts such as: Prada, Artemide, Persol, In 2008 he began the col- in Lausanne. Since 2009 she is a Whirlpool, V&A Museum and Adi- laboration with Arduino team as teacher and coordinator of MAPS – das. Massimo started the first Fa- interaction designer and trainer Arts in Public Spheres at ECAV Uni- bLab in Italy which led to the cre- (SUPSI, NABA, DomusAcademy), versity of Applied Arts of Canton ation of Officine Arduino, a FabLab/ meanwhile organizing workshops Wallis in Sierre. She is the co-au- Makerspace based in Torino. He and meetings with “people doing thor with Vittoria Martini of “Just spent 4 years at the Interaction strange things with electricity” Another Exhibition: Stories and Design Institute Ivrea as Associ- (Dorkbot, Virale). From October Politics of Biennials” (Milan 2011). ate Professor. Massimo has taught 2011 to November 2012 he worked She curated with Robert Ireland workshops and has been a guest as CTO & COO in Vectorealism. the book “Pavilions. Art in Archi- speaker at institutions allover the com (the italian partner of digital tecture” (Brussels 2013). She is the world. Before joining IDII he was fabrication service Ponoko). In 2011 curator of the Museum of Post Dig- CTO for the Seat Ventures incu- he joined the team of Wefab.it in ital Cultures, founded with Elise bator. He spent many years work- organising events and initiatives Lammer in 2013 (www.postdigi- ing as a software architect,both in around Open Design rapid proto- talcultures.ch). Milan and London, on projects for typing and digital fabrication in clients like Italia Online, Sapient, Milan. Labour Party, BT, MCI WorldCom, In 2013 he worked at the or- SmithKlineBeecham, Storagetek, ganisation of Maker Faire Rome BSkyB and boo.com. Massimo is helping Massimo Banzi and Of- also the author of “Getting Started ficine Arduino in the curation of with Arduino” published by O’Reil- the fair, which involved more than ly. He is a regular contributor to the 250 makers and 30’000 visitors. He italian edition of Wired Magazine is founder of a makerspace in Mi- and Che Futuro, an online maga- lan incubated by the association zine about innovation. He current- Wemake.cc and organizer of the ly teaches Interaction Design at events series Popup Makers (pop- SUPSI Lugano, Switzerland, and is upmakers.net). a visiting professor at CIID in Co- penhagen. Re-Programmed Art: an Open Manifesto 11

Sibylle Omlin - ECAV Iolanda Pensa - SUPSI Zoe Romano - WeMake Sibylle Omlin lives in Sierre, Zu- Iolanda Pensa developed a Ph.D. Zoe Romano lives in Milano and rich and Basel. She studied German thesis on the Biennial of Contem- currently working on Digital Strat- literature, history of the arts and porary African Arts in Dakar. She is egy & Wearables at Arduino. She modern history at the University an art critic specialized on the Af- co-founded Openwear.org, the of Zurich. From 1996 to 2001, she rican continent and diaspora, with european pilot project around col- worked as an editor and art critic a focus on the changes on the state laborative fashion and open source at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Since of intellectual property generated branding and Wefab.it, an initia- 1999, she teaches theories of the by information and communica- tive for the diffusion of open de- arts and has developed an activity tion technologies. She was scien- sign and digital fabrication in Italy. as author and editor of books. From tific director at lettera27 Founda- She’s been into media activism and 2001 to 2009, she was a professor tion, whose mission is to support political visual art for the past 10 at the Art institute of the School of the right to literacy, education, and years, working on precarity, social arts and design of the University of the access to knowledge and infor- production, material and imma- Applied Sciences and Arts of North- mation. She accomplished com- terial labor in creative and service western Switzerland where she parative researches on a variety of industries. She recently launched was also the head of the institute. contexts and countries. She is the a Makerspace in Milan called We- She directs the ECAV University of co-curator with Roberto Casati of make.cc, focused on contemporary Applied Arts of Canton Wallis in Si- the research project Mobile Access fashion and design practices. erre since 2009. to Knowledge. Since 2013 she is a She is the author of “Das researcher at the Laboratory of vi- Gedächtnis der Malerei” (Aarau-Co- sual culture at SUPSI University of logne 2000), “Hybride Zonen. Applied Sciences and Arts of South- Kunst und Architektur in Basel ern Switzerland. and Zürich” (Basel 2003), “Ges- chiebe. Landschaft als Denkraum” (Altdorf 2004), “Performativ. Per- formance-Künste in der Schweiz” (Zurich 2004), “Nothing to Declare/ Nichts zu deklarieren. 4. Triennale für Zeitgenössische Kunst Ober- schwaben” (Nürnberg 2008), “Felix Stephan Huber. The Games 2001- 2009” (Basel 2009), “Interviews. Oral History in Kunstwissenschaft und Kunst” (with Dora Imhof, Mu- nich 2010). 12 supsi - WeMake

Azalea Seratoni - SUPSI Leonardo Angelucci - SUPSI Azalea Seratoni is an art historian Leonardo Angelucci is a free-lance and critic. She graduated with a de- graphic designer and works as gree in art history from Università teaching assistant at SUPSI Uni- degli Studi, Milan, Departments of versity of Applied Sciences and Arts and Philosophy with a thesis Arts of Southern Switzerland. He on the relationship between Bruno studied Visual communication in Munari and Japanese culture. She Lugano, discussing his BA thesis has overseen all the activities for a in Interaction design in 2013. He is cultural centre focusing on mod- responsible for the web platform of ern and contemporary art (Antonio Re-Programmed Art. Mazzotta Art Foundation, Milan). Her career has allowed her to develop research, curatorial, manage- ment and communication skills and abilities, lately focused on art documentaries. She is a writer and collaborates with IUAV, Venice and SUPSI, Lugano. Re-Programmed Art: an Open Manifesto 13

Thibault Brevet Martin Fröhlich ToDo (Fabio Franchino Thibault Brevet studied graphic de- Martin Fröhlich studied Mechan- and Giorgio Olivero) sign at ECAL, Lausanne. Previously ical engineering and Media art ToDo is a design studio based in trained as an engineer and physi- at the University of Northeastern Italy and founded in 2007. While cist, his work revolves around sim- Switzerland. His work oscillates designing near-future projects to- ple physical interactions and their between arts and technology, and day, ToDo focuses on dialogue, ex- general consequences on our daily ranges from computer anima- change and community through lives. Using his scientific back- tions to interactive art spaces, the integration of ideas, interactiv- ground knowledge as seeds for his from experimental digital music ity and technology. The outcome is projects, he uses a blend of lo-fi and interfaces to video mapping soft- a steady stream of new experienc- cutting-edge techniques, soft and ware, to spatial augmented reality es that question and redefine the hardware devices to create intrigu- toolsets. His recent works include relationship between technology, ing moments. His work has been the “Mossprinter” (2011), a mecha- products, services and smart en- shown in various European design tronic device that prints moss onto vironments for the twenty-first festivals (Milan, Vienna), interna- house walls; “MeshWarpServer” century. ToDo’s founding partners tional institutions (New Museum, (2012), a versatile and open source are Giorgio Olivero, Fabio Cionini, New York, Victoria and Albert Mu- video mapping software frequent- Fabio Franchino, Andrea Clemente. seum, London) and publications ly used by video artists around the The studio enjoys an international (Domus, ICON, Gestalten). world; or the “IMPOD” (2013), short network of design and communica- for Impersonating Overhead Dis- tion professionals. ToDo’s projects play, a helmet with a rotating strip participated in the Venice Biennale of LEDs that creates a cylindrical 52nd International Art Exhibition, screen around the wearers head. Arezzowave 2007, Club-Transme- He conceptualizes his artworks or diale Berlin 2008, Multiverse and inventions as tools to alter the au- Italic 2.0 exhibitions by the Icogra- dience mode of perception and re- da Design Week 2008. flection. 14 supsi - WeMake

Yvonne Weber measuring stations to calculate Yvonne Weber, born 1977 in the geometry of snow crystals and Egliswil near Zurich, lives and wor- translate them into a 3D snowpack ks in Ascona and Berlin. In 2007 model as tangible data sculptures. she completed her advanced stu- While a resident at the Nairs Cen- dies in Process and Product Design ter for Contemporary Art (2013), she at the University of the Arts Berlin. applied her previous research on Yvonne develops generative sy- snow sculptures to the landscape stems and interfaces to make ab- of Lower Engadin area by exami- stract digital information both ning how our perception of natu- tangible and thus real. Unhindered re can be influenced by a scientific by the constraints of working with snow model. a specific media and influenced by science she is creating models and data sculptures based on al- gorithms and environmental data. Both research on the interplay of representations and reality as well as intervening in reality processes within open spaces play an important role in her work. Her piece “Moving Memories” (2008) is concerned with memory and the awareness of a building extended with an interactive faça- de and was shown at the Media Facades Festival Berlin. With the installation “Movement & Impact” (2009) for Ars Electronica and their festival 80+1 in Linz she created a massage platform that receives live-bits from the traffic situation at the Gotthard tunnel in Switzer- land. Within the Swiss artists- in-labs residency (2010), Yvonne worked at the Snow and Avalan- che Research Institution in Davos where she used weather data from Re-Programmed Art: an Open Manifesto 15

Gruppo T that modifies the spatial structure color, etc. These works employing In 1959 Giovanni Anceschi, Davide of the artwork over time. This pro- novel methods, techniques, and Boriani, Gianni Colombo, and Ga- posal opens a phase of collective material, are a sort of “fields of briele Devecchi meet each other at debate, which produces a series of happenings”, without any personal the Academy of arts of Brera, whe- scenarios. Firstly, the need of a ran- sign of the artist, and open to the re they take part to the experiences dom component emerges, in order intervention of the audience. of the Milan avant-garde of those to break the cyclical mechanical Miriorama 1, the first manifesta- years. They participate with Piero movement. This implies to allow tion of the group, was organized Manzoni and Enrico Castellani to the audience to actually intervene in January 1960 at galleria Pater the organization and the activities in the work. Involving the different in Milan. On this occasion the De- of the galleria Azimut. Here they contributions, the group prepares a claration was published. Four solo meet, among others, Heinz Mack, series of programmatic texts with exhibitions followed, one per each Enzo Mari, Manfredo Massironi, a strong philosophical side. These artist of the group (Miriorama 2 to the group Motus (later known as positions are summed up in the 5). GRAV), with whom they reunite for declaration “Miriorama 1” of Octo- Miriorama 6 in 1960 is the second the activities of Programmed Art ber 1959, which can be described as group exhibition and marks the and New Tendencies. a theoretical platform and a tech- presence of Grazia Varisco as a new On September 1959 they exhibit nical manifesto. Gruppo T (Ance- member of the group. mixed material and monochrome schi, Boriani, Colombo, Devecchi) is On the occasion of Miriorama 7, artworks at galleria Pater in Milan. founded on these bases. The collec- at galleria San Matteo in Genua in After becoming fully aware of the tive and solo manifestations of the 1960, the second theoretical decla- tendency towards a tabula rasa, group are all entitled “Miriorama” ration of the group was published: which was typical to the visual arts (never-ending visions, from the it is a text where the word Mirio- of those years, they felt the need Greek “orao”, to see, and “myrio”, rama is repeated never-endingly. to take this trend to its extreme which denotes a nearly uncounta- At Miriorama 8 in 1960, Gruppo T consequences and to overcome it ble quantity), numbered conse- exhibits an edition of ten copies of through the actions of what had quently (1-14) in order to stress the five multiples, numbered and sig- become, in fact and since long, a continuity of a shared program, ned, at the shop of Bruno Danese in group. During a “constant seminar” which guides the work of the group Milan (the multiples were re-edited made of discussions – mostly held for many years. by Alessi in 2010). For Miriorama 9 at the tables of bar Titta in Brera –, Referring to unrealized utopias in 1961, Gruppo T sends fifteen ul- Boriani proposes to the group the proposed by historical avant-garde tra-light artworks to Minami gal- production of “variable works”, “in movements, Gruppo T has opened lery in Tokyo, upon the invitation four dimensions”, where the time research scenarios and new ope- of the artist Shuzo Takiguchi. Mi- component is perceivable in the rational methods. They started by riorama 10 in 1961 at galleria La Sa- unpredictable and irreversible va- producing works, both collective lita in Rome was accompanied by a riation of the image. The variation and individual, based on the effects text by Lucio Fontana. Miriorama is obtained through the movement of variation in material, surface, 11 at Studio N in Padua in 1962 fea- 16 supsi - WeMake

tured a presentation by Bruno Mu- the organization of the movement Giovanni Anceschi nari. The catalogue of Miriorama 12 New Tendencies, which gathers Giovanni Anceschi (Milan, 1939) is at galleria del Cavallino in Venice together artists and groups from an artist and designer specialized in 1962 was a folding combinatory European and extra-European in visual communication, active in poem by Nanni Balestrini. countries under the aim of con- Italy and abroad. At the end of the Gruppo T presents “programmed stant research. fifties he befriends Enrico Baj and graphics with cybernetic criteria” In 1964 the group participates to attends the courses of philosophy in the Almanacco Letterario Bom- the 32nd Biennial of arts in Venice. held by Enzo Paci, focusing on the piani 1962, devoted to the impact of Studio F in Ulm hosts Miriorama issues of temporality and relations electronic calculators, and edited 14. and in particular on the “Carte- by Umberto Eco and Bruno Muna- Progressively Gruppo T has modi- sian Meditations” by Husserl. He ri. In 1962 the group participates to fied its setting. Individual exhibi- attends the courses held by Cesare the exhibition “Arte programmata, tions are held without meaning Musatti who puts him in contact arte cinetica, opere moltiplicate, the end of collective work. A new with perception studies and psy- opera aperta”, promoted by Olivetti form of collaboration, combining choanalysis. He starts attending upon an idea of Bruno Munari, with two or three members of the group the courses of Achille Funi as an a text by Umberto Eco, at the Oli- for a specific project, is developed auditor at the Academy of Brera, vetti showroom in galleria Vittorio with the aim of producing envi- where he meets Davide Boriani, Gi- Emanuele in Milan. The exhibition ronmental works, which became anni Colombo, Grazia Varisco, and is presented in Italy, Germany, Uni- a priority in the landscape of rese- lately Gabriele Devecchi. Together ted Kingdom, and in a second edi- arch of Gruppo T. with them he participates to the tion in the United States. 1968 is marked by a crisis in the ac- activities of the art gallery Azimut, In December 1962 Gruppo T col- tivity of the group and by diverging coordinated by the artists Piero laborates with Vittoriano Viganò, choices of members. They sign for Manzoni and Enrico Castellani. Be- Bruno Munari, and Livio Castiglio- the last time a collective work, the tween 1959 and 1960 he co-founds ni, to the production of the light “Percorso dinamico a ostacoli pro- Gruppo T and participates to a se- tower in piazza Duomo in Milan, grammatic” (Dynamic path with ries of exhibition on programmed upon the invitation of the artistic programmed obstacles) in Greno- art as well as to the New Tenden- committee for light parade. ble. Even if Colombo and Varisco cies international movement. In Also in 1962 Anceschi enrolls the have then distanced themselves 1964 he conceives “Ambiente a Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm, from the group, Gruppo T has ne- shock luminosi”, an environment where he establishes fruitful rela- ver been dissolved officially. devoted to the topic of perceptu- tions with such theorists of infor- Since 2000, a cultural opera- al disorientation, contraction and mational esthetics as Max Bense tion at an international level is dilution of time. In collaboration and Abraham A. Moles. In 1963 Mi- acknowledging the great anticipa- with Boriani he installs in Zagreb riorama 13 takes place at galleria tory value of Programmed art, in (1965) “Ambiente per un test di es- del Naviglio in Milan. particular of Gruppo T. tetica sperimentale”, which marks In the same year Gruppo T enters the convergence of systematic and Re-Programmed Art: an Open Manifesto 17

programmed artistic research with Davide Boriani realizes a number of interactive in- Anceschi’s interest in proairetic Davide Boriani (Milan, 1936). Since stallations and environments pro- and informational esthetics as de- the foundation of Gruppo T he has duced either in collaboration with fined by Max Bense and Abraham been constantly engaged with it other members of the group or in- Moles. In the seventies his artistic and his activity is strongly inter- dividually, from 1964 to 2013. work also addresses the field of vi- twined with the one of the group. The year 1968 marks a crisis in the sual poetry, as well as total poet- Since 1956, Boriani exhibits his activities of Gruppo T: the paths ry. In the field of design Anceschi works produced with a variety of of its components diverge. Boriani approaches the themes connected techniques, both traditional and takes a critical position towards with processes that take place over experimental. In early 1959 he pro- the art system. He continues his re- time: from corporate identity to duces his first “Opere in divenire” search and the activity of Gruppo T, exhibition design, from digital to with a monochrome mixture that particularly with Devecchi. While interaction design. He is the first progressively changes the im- exhibitions are suspended, Boriani teacher addressing the disciplines age while it dries up. In the same focuses on his work as a designer of communication design within year, with the aim of overcoming and a teacher. Between 1971 and Italian universities. He has taught a tendency of resetting visual arts, 1981 he conceives and realizes, also for forty years, with a specific inter- he introduces the realization of within educational activities, proj- est in the pedagogy of design (Klee, four-dimensional artworks, where ects of participatory design with Kandinsky, Itten, Moholy-Nagy, Al- time and case play a fundamental users at the scale of architecture, bers, Maldonado, Munari), which role: images are no longer fixed but territory, and society. He taught at led to the foundation of a general they constantly change through the Academy of Brera, at IED and at discipline of the configuration (Ba- actual movements and interven- the Politecnico di Milano. In 1995 sic design). As a historian, theorist, tions of the viewers on the artwork. he moved to Curitiba, Brazil, where and advocate of multi-modal cul- Gruppo T is conceived around this he lives and works. ture, he has published a large num- working hypothesis. ber of books and essays. Boriani produces series of kinetic In 2009 he participates to the ex- and programmed artworks, among hibition “Œuvres ouverte / Vertige others: “Superfici magnetiche” de la liste” at Louvre Contempo- (1959-1966), “Ipercubo” (1961-1965), rain, curated by Umberto Eco. His “PH. Scope” (1963-1966), “Panta- works are part of public and private chrome” (1967-1976), “Dinamica collections and of the permanent economica” (1985). collection of Galleria Nazionale He produces the first interactive d’Arte Moderna in Rome, Museo environment where the user is at del Novecento in Milan, Gallerie the “center of the work” as an ac- d’Italia in Milan, and MACBA in tive and irreplaceable presence Buenos Aires. (“Spazio + linee luce + spettatore”, Paris 1964). Following this work, he 18 supsi - WeMake

Gianni Colombo ticipated to the last exhibition of Gabriele Devecchi Gianni Colombo (Milan, 1937 - the group exhibition of Gruppo T, Gabriele Devecchi (Milan, 1938- Melzo, 1993) produced his first “Miriorama 14” at Studio F in Ulm. 2011) was an artist, designer, archi- artworks – paintings, sculptures, From that year on Colombo’s privi- tect, goldsmith and teacher. ceramics – in 1955. He studied at leged remit of esthetic action was His artisan family and the atten- the Academy of Brera, where he the environmental space, designed dance of the art school of Brera attended the courses of painting as a place for active solicitation of are key elements of his education. held by Achille Funi and Pompeo perceptual, sensorial and behav- Thanks to his father, a sculptor and Borra. He shared his first studio on ioral events that directly involve an engraver who experienced the via Montegrappa in Milan with Da- the audience. Colombo created en- Futurism before the war and indu- vide Boriani and Gabriele Devecchi, vironments that can be inhabited strial design in the post war period, and eventually moved to a studio and practiced, moving from neu- Devecchi was introduced to the art next to the one of his brother Joe. tral and abstract spaces (where the world at a juvenile age. He experimented different materi- audience is immersed in kinetic After the end of the high school, he als and languages, from ceramic to events based on light) to eventually started working at this father’s sil- graphics, from photography to cin- become spaces connected with ar- ver workshop. In 1959 he founded ema. Under the influence of Lucio chitectural design. Their aim was Gruppo T with Giovanni Anceschi, Fontana he produced mixed ma- to make the audience rethink the Gianni Colombo and Davide Boria- terial artworks and monochrome concept of space by modifying the ni. He began producing kinetic and relief made of wadding that were perception of the environment, as programmed artworks, interactive exhibited in 1959 at the gallery Az- a highlight of the fragility of all environments, multiples, inter- imut in Milan, which was a collab- ideas based on routine. In 1967 Co- ventions at the urban scale. oration project of Piero Manzoni, lombo presented at the exhibition Since 1962 he participated actively Enrico Castellani, Giovanni Ances- “Trigon ‘67” in Graz the environ- in the manifestations “Arte pro- chi, Davide Boriani, and Gabriele ment “Spazio elastico”, conceived grammata” organized by Olivetti Devecchi. In the same year Colom- in 1966 and awarded with the first in Italy and in the USA. He took bo founded Gruppo T with Giovan- prize at the 36th Art Biennial in part to important events together ni Anceschi, Davide Boriani, and Venice in 1968. In 1968 he designed with other members of Gruppo T, Gabriele Devecchi. He participated Borgotondo, a thematic park for such as the Fourth International to the exhibitions “Arte program- children in Mirandola, with the Biennial of San Marino “Oltre l’in- mata”, and to the establishment collaboration of Emilio Tadini and formale” and the various editions and the exhibitions of the interna- Gianfranco Pardi. The same year of the international exhibitions tional movement New Tendencies. he was appointed professor at the New Tendencies in Zagreb, Venice, In 1963 Gianni Colombo was invited Academy NABA in Milan, and dean and Paris. Together with the kine- with many other kinetic and pro- in 1985. tic and luminous environments, grammed artists, to the Fourth In- he is the author of a memorable ternational Biennial of San Marino installation, which represents the “Oltre l’informale”. In 1964 he par- peak and the quintessence of a so- Re-Programmed Art: an Open Manifesto 19

matic art of interaction, “Scultura Grazia Varisco un percorso” as a direct interven- da prendere a calci”. From 1956 to 1969 Grazia Varisco tion on the streets of the city. Since 1962 he managed and art di- (Milan, 1937) attends the Academy In 1969 she visits the USA for a first rected the family silver workshop. of Brera, where she is a pupil of one-year stay with her family, with In the same years he started colla- Achille Funi. a second stay in 1973. borations in other fields of design: Since 1960 she develops her artistic From 1979-1980 she starts teaching furniture, product, exhibition and research as a member of Gruppo and since 1981 she is professor of urban design. In the seventies he T and participates to the manife- theories of perception at the Aca- participated to many artistic acti- stations Miriorama, to the exhi- demy of Brera. vities that marked a critique to the bitions of programmed art, and She participates in important na- traditional organization of the art to the events of the international tional and international group system, such as “Volterra 73” cura- movement New Tendencies, whe- exhibitions. Her works are in mu- ted by Enrico Crispolti. At the same re she has the chance to meet and seums as well as in public and pri- time Devecchi manifested a strong exchange with individual artists as vate collections both in Italy and attention to the social implications well as Italian and foreign groups abroad, among others: Galleria of his activity of esthetic research. who share her interest in the field Nazional d’Arte Moderna in Rome, The sign unifying the articulations of perception and experimentation. Museum of Modern Art in New of the different areas that Devec- Since the half of the sixties, Varisco York, Museo del Novecento in Mi- chi practiced is the consideration continues her experimentations lan. She lives and works in Milan. of ambiguous and unstable things and exhibitions individually, wor- in space and time: not shapes but king as well as a graphic designer processes open to external inter- for the Ufficio Sviluppo at the de- ventions in order to unforeseen partment store La Rinascente in metamorphic continua. Milan, for the magazine “Abitare”, Also in the field of design applied for the company Kartell and for the to silver and in his projects for ar- Piano Intercomunale Milanese. tifacts made of gold, porcelain or In 1969 she exhibits at the gallery glass, Devecchi tended to produce of Arturo Schwarz in Milan the “Di- objects that are ironical conveyors latazione spazio-temporale di un of ever-changing messages and of percorso”, where a spotlight slowly dialogical relationships with users. rotates on an otherwise completely This experimental tension is con- dark environment: by reaching dif- firmed in the many years of tea- ferent distances, the light modifies ching commitment for the design the perception of the space. In the discipline, which moved from the same year she is invited to the ma- concrete and perceptual manipula- nifestation “Campo urbano” where tion of materials towards modeled she presents the large installation and theoretic information. “Dilatazione spazio-temporale di Re-Programmed Art An Open Manifesto

In the sixties, the group of artists known as Gruppo T created artworks that turned the audience into active users. Through the organization of a workshop and an exhibition, the project aims at involving a group of artists and designers from Re-Programmed Art: an open manifesto both Italy and Switzerland in a process of open source re-programming of artworks by Grup- po T. The artists are supposed to expand the works by Gruppo T through the programming of interactive behaviors with open source technology, and to release the documentation under Creative Commons licenses in order to grant reproducibility and further extension by other authors. coordinators Serena Cangiano and Davide Fornari in collaboration with Leonardo Angelucci, Massimo Banzi, Costantino Bongiorno, Federica Martini, Sibylle Omlin, Iolanda Pensa, Zoe Romano, Azalea Seratoni artists Giovanni Anceschi, Davide Boriani, Thibault Brevet, Martin Fröhlich, ToDo (Fabio Franchino, Giorgio Olivero), Grazia Varisco, Yvonne Weber partners Archivio Gabriele Devecchi, Archivio Gianni Colombo, Arduino, ECAV (Ecole Cantonale d’Art du Valais), Museo Alessi, SGMK (Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Mechatronische Kunst), SUPSI (Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana), WeMake institutional partners - cultural exchange program Viavai Pro Helvetia, Canton Ticino, Canton Wallis, City of Zurich, Percento culturale Migros Ticino, Ernst Göhner Stiftung

contact information SUPSI DACD LCV Campus Trevano ch-6952 Canobbio +41 (0)58 666 62 85 [email protected] www.reprogrammed-art.cc