Looking For Art Around

Where to find art in the world of 20th century? Blasphemous search, but perhaps inevitable, for some people more than necessary.

Saying that it no longer exists, swallowed by a TV or a commodification of teen-pages, it is maybe too much even for our society.
That’s why one morning I open my window on the world with the precise intention to seek the art around. Dark, well squared in its frame, the atmosphere of Milan sinks into an abyss of annoying concreteness. How to steal art from metal silhouettes, cars, darting subways or financial crocodile briefcases?
The intertemporelle comparaison with the most prosperous years of the past is not easy, you know. The art, even the most grandiose, it is often born of apparent indifference and intellectual sterility. Apparent is the right word. It is certainly not this the occasion for condemning habits of our society and it is not even my purpose here. This does not mean that I wouldn’t gladly offer my credit card for a weekend in Tolemaic museums (in the Hellenic sense of the word) or a library in Alessandria.
In a city of 2000 I have at my disposal a wide range film, bookshops at every corner and a large number of theaters to satisfy the most disparate needs. But art expects to be breathed, tasted, surrounded by five senses eager to own her. It is not enough for her to be there, ready and served on a silver platter. Sure,  there are museums that try to recreate the rosè atmosphere of literary men in relaxation, often with excellent results.

Let’s think about the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, a beautiful museum. The garden with its sculptures, the rocking chairs in front of the paintings, the palace truly lived by the founder. All factors that lead to what, in my opinion, is the best feeling you can feel in front of art: to admire the Empire of Light with the same simplicity we look at the coffeepot in the morning waiting for the coffee to be ready.

Here, perhaps the problem of our time is that we want to glorify too much a reality that can not be embalmed. Respect and admiration are not synonymous of detachment. In this way the barrier between us, modern humans, and her, it will become increasingly invisible and impassable.
Don’t be confused, ours is not a society that disdains art ot it is not able to appreciate it, simply can not sink into it. And this is or not an essential attribute to know how to create it?

AE