HERE, NOW

Memory, amnesia, waiting, and creation are all ways we relate to the past and the future through triggers in the present.Here, now, the title of the festival’s sixth edition, reflections on time and space, using these measures as a way to structure our experience. Here and now, a specific place and a specific time, a unique moment not to be replicated that in and of itself encompasses different eras: the past of the barracks, the current artistic creations and the future regeneration of the space. In this way the space is not just a vessel but an actual object.

The former barracks SMMEP (Military Plant for Precision Electronics) on via Guido Reni, decommissioned at the beginning of the 1990s, becomes the vehicle for the different experiences set into motion by the festival: the act of transforming the space, the perception of this transitory action, the interaction with the works themselves, the collective results of the renewal, and the participation of the artists and the public during the Outdoor Camp workshops.

Be present in a given moment and create experiences from the intermingling of space and time. These moments are born when naked architectural structures dialogue with the works of art contained within them. Become aware of yourself by relating to space and time through transformation.Outdoor itself is in continual flux. Over past editions is has become a vehicle for expression and communication, in which different artistic experiences have merged and new dialogues and creative styles, which have garnered even further public interest, have helped it to become a national reference point for street art, urban art, and new artistic expression.

The selection of artists for this edition was based on the desire to trace as vast an artistic map as possible, starting from street art, which has always been the essence of the project, and branching into other forms of creativity. The festival has transformed the vast spaces of the barracks into pavilions divided by country, allowing the exhibition to unfold in these spaces. Works include, the collective and interactive project by 2501, Recipient, and The Blind Eye Factory, the vacuous and abstract shapes by 108, Halo Halo’s chaotically saturated space, the decontextualization of Filippo Minelli and the research of memory by Lucamaleonte. Tilt’s sacred and impulsive work and Martin Whatson’s reflection on the ephemeral and cyclical nature of urban art. The flow of time in Insa’s “gif-iti” and Tinho’s reflections on isolation in the urban context. Objects found in the barracks have been elevated to artwork by Alexandros Vasmoulakis, Graphic Surgery’s deconstruction and remodeling of space, the warping of perspectives by Rub Kandy, the disorientation created by Penique productions and the use of space to reflect on current events by No Idea add to the exhibition. Finally, there is also a project about the Roman scene, curated by American photographer Jessica Stewart, with works by Alice Pasquini, Uno and Tommaso Garavini.

Here, now, also meditates on the act of creation and its final results. The hic et nunc (here and now) of an artwork, which Walter Benjamin discusses in the context of an artwork needing a unique and unrepeatable space and time in order to be completely defined, is the principle element of exploration for Outdoor, which, by provoking these themes, wishes to highlight how new expressions and artistic methods posses these characteristics.

INOUTDOOR - work description by Antonella Di Lullo

For Penique Productions the room is a pretest by which we can think about the way we interact with the space. The two Spanish artists use the plastic wrapper to cover indoor spaces' surfaces, thanks to the air moved by a fan. In that way they change the perception that we have with the space.By this process the room became unusable, and the spectator feels lost in it. For the first time and specifically for the Outdoor Festival they created two different plastic environments that interact with each other. The yellow wrap sticks to the room walls, making the architectural shapes stand out. At the corner of the room , they created a huge red cube, which is main focus of the artwork. Apparently is like an unrelated and independent object, but at the same time we can go inside it and have an interaction with the people who are in the yellow part of the room.

1979-1982 - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -

A personal memory that the artist has decided to render public, Lucamaleonte presents a rare work exploring his past. A past that overlaps with the building that hosts it, his artistic intervention blurs the line between public and private. The barracks is a space he knows well, a place from his memories, a place where his grandfather was, for many years, the director. For this reason the Roman artist has decided to evoke his grandfather’s inauguration and retirement from office through his welcome and farewell speeches, here recited by his father. The photograph that dominates the room transports us to that day and demonstrates his grandfather’s view from the stage, with his colleagues and subordinates in the audience. In the adjacent room a triptych reveals his grandfather dressed in a general’s uniform, his face hidden by a hexahedron, one of the artist’s signatures. The first figure is simply sketched out, as if a ghost, while the last one is completely defined. His grandfather’s emergence from the walls of the barracks represents time that has passed, as well as his own personal memory of his grandfather, a memory that ties him to this place.

Intrusive Structure VI - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -

The Dutch duo’s installation is the fourth of a series of works focused on intricate structures that penetrate architectural space. Their work is highly influenced by the minimal geometric forms that shape the industrial environment, such as the beams found in warehouses and cranes. The latter, in particular, is something they are particularly tied to, a functional means that is omnipresent in the urban landscape, but that is often either ignored or creates annoyance. For Graphic Surgery the mechanical crane is a symbol of the changing city, an instrument of the renewal or the destruction of a continuously evolving environment.Their work for Outdoor focuses on the reconfiguration of the barracks’ environment, implanting a black trellis transversally across three rooms. Each piece is independent, yet at the same time an integral part of the overall structure. This wooden structure recalls the exposed beams in the building’s warehouses, from which the artists took inspiration. Just like a purely formed crystal nestled in a piece of stone, their installation transforms the rooms and creates new spatial perspectives.

Società liquida - work description by Antonella Di Lullo

No Idea’s installation aims to be a visual representation of the Western world’s postmodern crises. Among them the destruction of certainties, the crumbling of universal values that have for centuries guided our representations of logic and that which has been put up for debate due to social and cultural phenomena and contemporary events. A floating sea, symbolic of man’s consciousness, creates the backdrop for this collective installation. At first glance reassuring, it soon reveals itself as a tragic scene. A volumetric light suddenly betrays the presence of silhouettes, symbols of a dramatic event that leads us to experience death in all its unyielding anguish. An authentic, unpredictable event, a trauma that has reconfigured the foundations on which the world rests.

ROOM1 - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
For Outdoor Festival Rub Kandy has decided to invade the space of three adjacent rooms in the central gallery. Technique and medium distinguish the works, yet there is a common thread that unites them: the space, the artist’s modifications, and the inaccessibility of the areas.The three site-specific works come from a deep research into the building and its architectural elements.Room 1 – A dark, narrow room filled with water and, in the background, a large circle of light. The enclosed space gives a sense of hardship amplified by the presence of a wall, built by necessity when the plant was active. The large light and its subsequent reverberations are elements that guide the spectator and offer reprieve from the overwhelming sensation the room brings upon their eyes.

ROOM 2 -
The large warehouse that hosts Rub Kandy’s second installation was sectioned in two distinct portions: the first was left intact in order to demonstrate its deteriorated state. In the background the painted white surface marks a clear break, transforming the space into an aseptic scene. Through their candor the spaces modify and enhance the flow of time through the barracks and its architecture.

ROOM 2 -
The large warehouse that hosts Rub Kandy’s second installation was sectioned in two distinct portions: the first was left intact in order to demonstrate its deteriorated state. In the background the painted white surface marks a clear break, transforming the space into an aseptic scene. Through their candor the spaces modify and enhance the flow of time through the barracks and its architecture.

ROOM 3 -

Numerous mirrors scavenged during the making of the festival have been leaned on pilasters and aimed toward the viewer. Through a game that multiplies the reflection of light in the mirrors, beams of light cut through the space and change our visual perception of the room.

OBJECT TROUVéS - work description by Marine Lerciche -
When we entered this place, we immediately felt the need to share the great emotions that we were experiencing in this former military factory.Objets trouvés is a catalog of feelings that celebrates a productive and lively place that remained active for over a century.

For three months, the seven hectares over which unfolds the former barracks SMMEP were a land of discovery. Every corner of this immense place has been the subject of an insatiable quest that along the way become a real addiction and that led us to collect the fragments of a life not our own.

With the curiosity and excitement of children making adventurous discoveries in a dusty and musty attic, for us each object symbolizes an achievement and every achievement has become a story.

The story we wish to tell is one of imagination. The objects exhibited are seemingly worthless, but rich with the energy of the men that used them. Their placement has an aesthetic and emotional organization done deliberately in order not to reduce them to a scientific catalog of life lived inside these barracks. Therefore, we invite you into a story that is more similar to a picture book than a history book as a means to provide a personal experience, one that is intimate and reflective.

Furniture, paint, wood, iron, rusted objects, chairs, armchairs, helmets, bottles, light bulbs, posters, postcards, letters, drawings, records, orders and commands, sunglasses, ski equipment, pens, tools, buttons, jackets, shirts, banners and flags, incomprehensible things, old computers, blueprints, diagrams, electrical wires, erotic calendars, radios, graphics, flyers and unknown objects valued for their beauty or for the simple charm of the unknown.

This treasure collected in three months is arranged to convey a sense of confusion, the same confusion experienced by us at the beginning of the search. Instead, the exhibition adopts a method of display that is reassuring and systemic: by color, shape, material, texture and theme. This highlights the aesthetic of the objects, regularizes the space, and facilitates enjoyment.We bring the public on this fascinating journey between everyday and unknown objects juxtaposed in a manner that gives value to their normalcy - an invitation to a new sublime look at everyday life.

RELICS - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
The objects that were found in this abandoned space regained new life thanks to Alexandros Vasmoulakis' art. His work for the Outdoor festival consists in a series of installations, created with objects and materials that the artist found during the sites inspections. The artist associated their discovery with the festival claim, which is “Here, now”. We can find a column made by chairs, or another one made by drawers, both representing a kind of static presence, in contrast with the lightness of the wavy panel which the artist covered with green glitter and that floats in the air thanks to a fan action. In Vasmoulakis' works both sculptures, materials and time have an artistic importance.

AND THEN COMES THE SILENCE.. - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
The work of Walter Nomura, aka Tinho, attempts to create a personal dialogue with the viewer, bringing them back to an intimate time, that of their infancy. Through his evocative paintings and enormous dolls, he conveys the anxiety of contemporary life, the profound alienation and individualism that distinguish life in hidden urban spaces from the frenetic pace of everyday life. His dolls, symbols for innocence and lightness lost, guide us toward this implicit complaint and cause reflection on the end results of our actions. Above all, his work is the fruit of a moral and ethical choice: in an era where economics create phenomena that destroy our planet, such as the wasting of resources and the generation of huge amounts of trash, he creates his puppets using fabric scraps and used clothing.Books found in the barracks sprinkle the floor and become the terrain on which we are asked to walk, a symbolic representation of how our consciousness and culture undergo a daily assault by economic power.

FACING IMMORTALITY - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
The flowing kaleidoscope of imagery in Insa’s GIF animations has a hypnotic power over the spectator. Their cyclical movements, depth, and brilliant colors make us linger, immobilizing us as though under the influence of a powerful painkiller. The view from above gives an accentuated perspective of the work, forcing us to observe the vortex that dominates the room, a vortex that, with its movement, sinks into nothingness. Above it sits a skull in endless rotation, irreverent and sardonic. Both figures were created through 8 layers painted to form the GIF, the defining mark of Insa’s work.

Here the English artist reflects on the concept of immortality in the trends found online as opposed to real life. The two objects represented in the work both have dual symbolic significances. The rotating skull is at once an allegory for death and, through its movement in loop, a symbol of the immortality of material found on the internet.

The vortex, in ancient tradition a symbol of life and evolution, at the same time, through its movement, warns us about life’s transience. The entire work is a modern and derisive reimagining of human vanitas. A farcical and playful representation of the ephemeral nature of our existence, the work reminds us that we often forget these conditions as we sink into the illusionary world created online.

NEVER ENDING STORY - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
Stencil and spray. These are the two methods used by the Norwegian artist for his work here at Outdoor – one method precise and technical, the other impulsive and chaotic. The room, on a smaller scale than others, allows the spectator a quick panoramic view, triggering the dynamic rhythm of the work. The two figures are engaged in an endless chase – one intent on painting, the other covering his tracks with white paint. It’s a mystery who started the chase and who will finish it. These two opposing gestures exemplify the ephemeral nature of urban art and the dynamics that occur while working in an urban context. The artist reserves judgment in this fight between opposing forces, limiting his involvement to the expression of this necessary game between opposing forces.

INDOOR OUTDOOR - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
There are different layers of meaning by which it is possible to interpret Tilt’s work. Without a shadow of a doubt the primordial nature of graffiti is essential to the French artist’s work. His artistic research has always focused on this theme: to leave a sign, one’s name, in a vast part of the world and on a wide variety of surfaces. The throw-up, often seen as a mere act of vandalism, through Tilt becomes provocatively decontextualized. Extracted and inserted in unexpected contexts, it acquires a new beauty that is unsettling and disorienting. Under this guise tags become legitimized, both conceptually and aesthetically, creating a short circuit in the negative prejudice against them.

Inside the former barracks he has pushed the limits of his research; not just an act of mere decontextualization, he has reshaped the surfaces destined for these interventions. Thus, the large windows become the surfaces on which the artist works. The numerous colorful throw-ups evoke the large stained glass windows of Gothic churches and lead us into the sacred realm. The reflection of light on the floors and walls, as well as the focal wall with the negative silhouette of the windows draws us in for respect and contemplation. The large painted walls are contrasted with an exhibition of photos taken of the windows of Rome’s metro, as well as other international cities, and the artist’s signature. The viewer is forced to walk through the pavilion in order to investigate the entire space.

THE BLU ROOM - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
A chaotic and confusing tangle of pop art shapes form a free representation of images as they appear in the mind before becoming overwhelmed by logic. These are the characteristics that continually define Halo Halo’s work. The room has been completed filled, with spatial coordinates and architectural elements losing their significance. Rather, they are substituted by the whims of the Torinese artist’s stream of consciousness. In this work we find the mechanical gears that harken back to the space’s former function, a small self-portrait of the artist, classical architectural elements, and details of the cicadas that, with their chirps, kept accompanied the artist during his time at the ex Caserma Guido Reni. With these images, the artist recalls the context in which he worked and invites us to immerse ourselves completely inside his evocative, ocean blue world.

IL DISTURBO DEL NERO - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
With his research 108 distances himself from the street art label, and overs the years has concentrated heavily on form and color as fundamental elements of the pictorial language, creating large abstract figures.
“For this piece I wanted to create a synthesis of my artistic research, concentrating on shape, or rather, the metaphysical structure of these architectural spaces. A sort of respect toward the beauty of abandoned spaces, consumed over time. Using bright color would have been disrespectful, out of place, and inelegant.”

His enormous black spots generate a sensation of interior conflict. They contain an emptiness that emanates its intrusive presence wherever one looks. They are a conceptual oxymoron given that the irrational and formless shapes have, at the same time, a resemblance to both primordial markings and contemporary forms. His abstract figures also contain imperfections, small erratic drippings that create collateral elements of disturbance. That which disturbs us is that which is unknown and incomprehensible, that which ultimately brings us toward reflection and contemplation, which fully occurs with these works.

COSE CHE HO FATTO MENTRE NON SERVIVO NELL'ESERCITO - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
Everything I did while I wasn’t serving in the army is an installation that from its very title sends a clear message of intent: tto ip the concept of the festival on its head and bring us to an elsewhere made of allusions and provocative themes. A reversal that while, at first glance, seems out of place, instead wishes to reflect on the festival’s themes through its absence, creating a dissident counterpoint that shows adverse imagery tied to this place. In a beach with clearly defined boundaries, with biting irony the artist exhibits, using photographs taken from his archives, details of far away places, life moments, and glimpses of personal experiences that stand as a counterpoint to the barracks’ past, its function, and what it represented. Seemingly disconnected, opaque words, seen on posters hung in the room, complete the mission by adding further influences and, through an aesthetic that recalls the early days of the internet, bring us back to virtual imagery tied to another omnipresent elsewhere – the one found online.

UNTITLED - work description by Jessica Stuart -
Set design, interior design, and fine art come together in this world created by Tommaso Garavini. Combining his skills, he at once brings us into the intimate setting of a room that functions for contemplation between the celestial, earthly, and abyss. Science and nature combine for this “Last Supper” by Garavini, as we move from the scorched, sculptural trunk, representing our worst earthly habits up toward the divine clouds of natural elements and iron. It’s in this divine realm we see the union of cascading natural shapes with the sharp edges of a man made “cloud.” Through attempting to mimic the chaos of nature, Garavini has let himself go to the rhythm of the medium itself in a challenge to reproduction the “perfect” chaos we find in the natural environment. Who sits at this table with symbolic plates laid bare? Numbers also play an important role in the installation. Thirteen, a number representing eternal love and spiritual cleanliness or bad luck, depending on the perspective, the figure ties into the ratio of cloud to table to wood sculpture proportionally. With the cloud and sculpture both in a 1;1,3 relation to the table, the opposing meanings of this number tie into the opposing pull between the inferno and the sublime. Scaling up and down we have right to move between these levels, moving to achieve a harmony only found in the natural world.

ALL IN - work description by Jessica Stuart -
UNO’s world is a delicate dance of color, proportion, and pattern pushed almost to the limit of excess. The principle point of impact is the wall directly in front of us, a tour de force of the design, pattern, and color that has marked the last several years of UNO’s artistic output. Drawing on a wide range of techniques, from stencil and collage to posters and freehand spray paint, UNO fully embraces the environment presented. At first glance chaotic, yet subtly balanced for harmony, the space draws focus from the rhombus, the geometric fulcrum of the room. Within these forms the primarily black and white patterns move from subtle depictions of the Kinder face to rain drops that recall the function of this room, with its sink tucked into the corner. Giving life to the space’s soundtrack, the concept of water is omnipresent, with the sink itself transformed into a three dimensional showcase. The calming effect of water in such a dynamic space is echoed by the choice (and non-choice) of color. Bright fluorescent gradients pop around the black and white elements, reflecting subtly off the gold swaths, which are the final touch to what is a 360-degree glimpse into the artistic practice of UNO.

BELIVE IT OR NOT - work description by Jessica Stuart -
Believe It Or Not’ – with these words, Alice Pasquini brings the spectator on a voyage through a space that depicts an unexpected, impactful side of her oeuvre. A space guided by illusion on many levels, from subtle colors that emerge from the seemingly black and white color scheme to the layering of figures and phrases.

Do we believe or do we not believe? In this room we are asked to let down our guards and immerse ourselves in this dark world of Alice. Only in this interior space can the artist divulge a new aspect of her work, one that is built on constructs of mystery and apparitions that seem to pour from every surface of the space. Unbridled from the consideration of public art, the artist’s duality is on display. Moving away from the vibrant colors that define her public work, this interior setting permits the apparition of fringe characters bathed in black, calling for a return to another era, when fantasy and illusion made us believe anything was possible.

Recipient
Recipient.cc is an artistic collective from Milan. It's composed by professionals from different areas, like multimedia communication, video/audio productions, interactive installations, design and art, with a lot of technical and also commercial

Blind Eye Factory

Blind Eye Factory is an independent studio of artists, specialized in the production and realization of video and photographic contents. The group was founded in 2013 by the union of Giorgio Filippini and Lorenzo Gallito. From the beginning the studio focused its activity in the art and design field, especially in the “new muralism” and street art currents.

NOMADIC ROOM - work description by Antonella Di Lullo -
2501’s large painted wall meets the experimental technology of Recipient and the moving images of the Blind Eye Factory. During the installation the pavilion was transformed into a real art studio.In this group project, even the public is called upon to engage with the work and to become an essential part of the piece, which will reach its fruition with the same tools used by the artist. The brushes used in the realization of the wall are made available to the public, who can use them on the moving paper found on Macchina 03, created by the Recipient collective. Each day the finished sheets of paper will be hung along the walls of the pavilion and only at the end of the festival can the installation be complete.The entire installation is part of the Nomadic experiment project, which is a reflection on the changing and fragmented condition that characterizes contemporary society. Through his continuous travels 2501 experiments with and documents this condition. A portion of the project’s documentary video, by Blind Eye Factory, will be present in the pavilion.