1996 "30 min. from the center", 4 videos, Care/Of, Milan

For the show ‘Mappe’, curated by Emanuela De Cecco, I realised four videos that were then shown simultaneously on four tv sets placed side by side.

The title refers to the time it takes from the very centre of Milan to the furthest tram stop.

I fixed my video camera on the rear window of four trams, going east, west, north and south, and recorded anything that entered into the visual field. I wanted to map the gradual transformation of the urban landscape, as one leaves the city centre, and its uniformity at a certain distance from the city centre. Not only do representations become the form in which (partial) knowledge of the urban environment is conveyed, but also as cognitive tools, they produce fresh perceptions and insights.
By selecting and creating linkages - here I used the trams as vectors, and recombined the visual texts by showing the videos synoptically - I hoped to produce not only ‘models of’ understanding, but also ‘models for ‘ understanding and enabling action.

We are in danger to lose all the specific character of different
 landscapes, move towards a uniformity of landscapes. We see many devastated landscapes, a sort of ‘junkspace’, which
have lost all attraction to their inhabitants - and to people from outside. Rich and diverse landscapes have a great social value.
The different character of landscapes make them valuable not only for tourists, but also for residents because they encourage a positive identification.