A friend of mine once said that Florence is so full of old art that it really isn’t motivated to find contemporary approaches. Judging by the F-light festival 2021, that is true. Most of the material seen was based on old masterpieces and/or shown in historically important venues. And why not – masterpieces are called masterpieces for a reason!
The festival includes light art, video art, architectural lighting and something I would call Christmas lights. The pieces were spattered around the city, giving a chance to see other places than just the Duomo. Which is – I can't stress this enough – worth seeing. The outer skirts venues were mostly about architectural lighting, the flashiest projections were in the immediate centrum. After six weeks of travelling and feet tired like a prayer of a person fallen asleep (another Finnish expression for you to enjoy), I decided to concentrate on the central area.
The very loose theme for the edition was reflections. I quite didn't catch it while watching the artworks, not in a concrete way anyhow. Except for reflecting the old masterpieces. The theme was mentioned in some of the info texts, but defined so widely it basically included everything. Also, Narcissus was referred to.
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| Judith reflecting future with Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi. Go see the painting in the Uffizi, it's supreme! |
There was history in many layers in the projection based on La Divina Commedia on the façades of Museo Galileo and Camera di Commercio (artist unknown). I couldn't quite follow the plot, since I, unlike Italians, don't know Dante's texts by heart. So, I took it as an enjoyable piece of dada art, where anyone or anything could float to the wall next. Reflections by The Fake Factory, projected to the trademark Ponte Vecchio bridge, was more twofold. The art treasures of renaissance took turns with more modern, colourful and abstract images. I'm not quite sure of the latter, though. Maybe one theme is enough for one artwork and in this case, I'd go with history.
Ponte Vecchio was one of the spots where sponsors' messages and information clips gained a tad too much time for my taste, in addition to being quite unbecoming. I know Italy's range in culture is wide to say the least, but the incessant tacky spacers were more Ragazze Cin Cin than Artemisia Gentileschi. Art is always a question of taste, but I do prefer the latter.
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| A Dada Commedia |
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| Ponte Vecchio coated with history |
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| Ponte Vecchio coated with colours |
Even if history played a great part, the modern days were not totally forgotten. In the Reflexus series of short video artworks by the 2nd year students of ISIA Florence, the historical imagery was mixed with flashes of nowaday people – and some nowaday fauna, in a simple, stylish way. The Stream of Consciousness by METAEXPERIENCE. ART combined Piazza della Santissima Annunciata, one of Medici statues and projected texts, that are all the rage in the modern video art. As are "artificial intelligence and the most complex algorithms", which were used also here, not that it made any difference. Unfortunately, the projectors were a tad weak for the existing light and the texts did not appear as powerful as they could have.
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| A person of history |
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| Persons of today |
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| Looking carefully, you'll see the writings on the floor |
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| Mercato Christmas lights are a tradition |
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| A subtle moment in the Rinascente Christmas lighting |
As to the actual light art part, there wasn't too much of it. As it happens, this was also the most high art stuff in the festival. The most obvious example, Siamo con voi nella notte (We are with you in the night) by artistic collective Claire Fontaine at Museo Novecento has its roots in neon letter art, big in the 60's, having a comeback, it seems. Led lights have replaced neon, though, as they have here. Could have fooled me, led lights are pretty damn good these days. Anyhow, light letter art is often laconic and / or political, and same goes here, starting with the name. Siamo con voi nella notte is a graffiti slogan from 70's, expressing solidarity with political prisoners. The artwork is a comment on closure of museums because of the epidemic, a kind reminder that art is still there, and is provided to the public by all means possible. Like making a square a piece of art by claiming it with a sign.
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| Subtle art takes over the whole piazza |
Even though I’m really into contemporary art, I found the old-fashioned approach quite refreshing and something I haven’t witnessed in any other flight art estival. Maybe Florence isn’t a beacon of contemporary light art but why should it be? In a city like this, full of historical beauty, why not flaunt it proudly – and maybe take a little more daring take, artistically?
And while at it, think of a more stylish way to advertise the sponsors.
Other people writing about F-light
Ciao tutti: Firenze Light Festival – prachtige lichtshow op de mooiste monumenten van Florence (in Dutch)
Emergenza Cultura: L’anima e l’arte di Firenze svendute a sponsor e loghi (in Italian)
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