HOW DID YOU APPROACH STREET ART AND GRAFFITI?
I became interested in street art and the phenomenon of graffiti while I was writing my three-year thesis at the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti entitled "Graffiti art, the thin line between work and vandalism".
My intention was to analyse the phenomenon from prehistory, with the practice of cave paintings, up to the present day, how it has evolved over time, and the impact it has had on society up to the present day. I also asked myself what the difference between a work of street art and an act of vandalism is.
Later, after enrolling in the two-year specialization course in contemporary decoration at the same faculty, I had the opportunity to try my hand at street art and Muralism by creating my first large mural.
The satisfaction and happiness I felt after completing the work spurred me more and more to continue this artistic practice.
WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF STREET ART?
My definition of street art is that constant quest to unite the concept of making art and thus research, which is developed through aesthetic-visual methods that tend to connect with the surrounding environment and people.
WHAT KIND OF EVOLUTION DO YOU SEE IN STREET ART?
Street art can have multiple evolutions and functions. Through its practice, it has the power to create new spaces and imaginary scenarios in those places where imagination and beauty are lacking.
Personally, I see street art as a need to decorate that common space where we are placed; it can transform an anonymous place into something recognizable.
I’d like street art to evolve to become a 'standard' in urban decoration, something necessary, although this would impose technical and stylistic rules on this practice that could either elevate or neutralise it.
HOW DO YOU SEE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN STREET ART AND AI?
AI and street art could interact together, we shouldn’t exclude anything. My only perplexity is that the practice of street art is linked to the human being as much as prehistoric man's need to paint cave walls, and therefore that taste, that need for ritual, heritage, and documentation might be lost if left to a machine.
WHAT ARE THE NEW GENERATIONS 'BETTER' AT IN STREET ART THAN THE BEGINNINGS AND WHY, AND VICE VERSA?
The new generations have surely had the opportunity to develop techniques and styles that the old ones couldn’t afford. Today, street art is much more protected and 'accepted' than in the past and therefore a street artist has the security of doing something legal and taking more time and safety for his work. It doesn’t mean that the older generations were less good, but certainly, the new ones have resources and knowledge that give them that extra edge
STREET ARTISTS – IN PARTICULAR GRAFFITI - ARE SOMETIMES STILL CONSIDERED TO HAVE A SORT OF ANARCHICAL MATRIX, WHEREAS YOU TALK ABOUT FUNCTION IN THIS SOCIETY, SO SOCIETY IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU? HOW AND WHY?
Street art is still regarded as a “rough and tumble” art practice, but at the same time, it has the power to constantly be re-evaluated, as it manages to be in symbiosis and evolution with the environment and the people where it is located.
When I have to create a mural, the first thing I ask myself is: “What do I want to say and convey to the people who will observe my work? Is it relevant to the place where I want to put it? Will it be accepted or hated?" From these questions, I begin to lay the foundations for the design of my creations
AUTONOMY AND FREEDOM, WHAT DO THEY MEAN TO YOU?
Being autonomous in organizing your work, designing it, and always challenging yourself with time and materials, refining your techniques. The freedom to have your own style, which can be shared with everyone is fundamental to me.
But even more important is to be true to yourself and have a good dose of self-criticism, because, in my opinion, there’s nothing worse than being 100% satisfied with your work. You would end up sitting down, folding your arms, and doing nothing.
REGARDING THIS ANSWER “BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANT IS TO BE TRUE TO YOURSELF AND HAVE A GOOD DOSE OF SELF-CRITICISM, BECAUSE, IN MY OPINION, THERE’S NOTHING WORSE THAN BEING 100% SATISFIED WITH YOUR WORK. YOU WOULD END UP SITTING DOWN, FOLDING YOUR ARMS, AND DOING NOTHING”, SO WHO IS VITTORIO ROSSI TODAY, AT WHAT POINT IN HIS CAREER DOES HE FEEL AND WHERE DOES HE WANT TO GO, BUT ABOVE ALL, WILL HE EVER BE SATISFIED?
Now I feel the need to continue my research, I’d like to spend all my strength, energy, and time on what I do. I try in every way through calls to put myself out there, to see where my research can take me, and continue from there.
There may be a chance that I am satisfied but it isn’t what I’d like. If I were, my work would come to a standstill, and I would no longer do anything.
I always look for the flaw because it is from this element that the creative process takes place and starts.
WHAT SHOULD AN ARTIST DARE TO DARE?
First of all, I don’t consider myself an artist, and anyway it isn’t my place to say it.
I consider myself a person who has an interest that can be developed through research, using aesthetic-visual techniques and processes.
However, in answer to the question, I think that an artist doesn’t have to give or create something new, but simply give something and explain, motivate, and highlight it.
MY STYLE AND RESEARCH
My research aims to create a hybrid between ancient and modern, between old and new methods of execution, to 'create' an artistic chimera that concerns more and more styles, techniques and themes.
My work aims to combine graphic, painting, and installation elements, starting from the study of different patterns related to Mediterranean cultures, to create graphic-pictorial compositions that are layered, as if to emphasise the evolution of time.
WHERE DO YOU PREFER TO WORK, INHABITED OR UNINHABITED ENVIRONMENTS?
I prefer to work in inhabited environments because it gives me the opportunity to get to know the people who live in a given area, their stories, traditions, and tastes, and try to take all these elements to create a work that can be accepted by the community.
There is no worse thing than making a work in a place and for it not to be accepted and recognised by the people who live there.
by RA / RC
for Dare Clan