Thinking About the Real World

So as my internship here is more than 2/3 done (a depressing thought) I guess it's time to start contemplating the ways in which my experience here will apply to my studies when I return. I thought I'd do a post about it for anyone interested.

I'm going into my second year of my masters and intend on writing my thesis/MRP about graffiti and the movement of graffiti from the streets into the galleries. In other words, I want to examine what happens when there start to be gallery exhibitions (like one that I went to earlier this year in a swanky new gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan that featured French street artist Zevs). My general idea is that graffiti is no longer graffiti when it is removed from the streets, since its original context is such an intrinsic part of what it is (I would argue that graffiti is not just a final product, but comprises an entire performative process in which context/location plays an integral role).

At first, it would seem like working at a contemporary site-specific sculpture park in rural Tuscany would have little to do with my research interests. However, I'm finding it very interesting examining the ways in which ideas of site-specificity (as they apply to art like the sculptures here at Celle) parallel those that I believe to be crucial in the whole graffiti-gallery issue.

As an aside, if you're interested in seeing the pictures I shoot of graffiti during my travels in Italy and beyond, you can find them on my other blog here.

A couple other unrelated thoughts/stories for the day...

1) Italian transit officially has WAY too many strikes. This is getting ridiculous. At least I finally found the extremely obscure link on the TrenItalia website that gives strike info a day or two in advance.

2) Last night in Florence I had a very bizarre chance encounter. I heard someone call my name and turned around to find a Turkish friend that I went to school with in Florence 3 years ago! I was amazed that he even recognized me, seeing as I went from blonde to black hair since then. WHAT A SMALL WORLD!