Che fare?

The concept behind this publication is to trace the early days of Arte Povera, from 1967 to 1971, in all its atmospheric intensity and historical radicalness. This effort includes trying to elaborate the divergent and individualistic artistic approaches contained within what sometimes seems today like a homogeneous movement. Arte Povera is portrayed here as a powerful new beginning, entailing the hope for social and aesthetic transformation of quotidian life with, and through, art. The analysis is aligned along four main focuses: the first can be described using the catchwords 'time – primeval times – the history of the earth,' the second as 'primary processes – alchemy – energy,' the third as 'picture in picture – exit from the picture,' and the fourth theme as 'body and action.' The desire to expand the boundaries of art and life increasingly led to a process-based approach that was at the same time designed to resist appropriation by the art market. A fifth aspect involves chronicling contemporary history, documented here by an extensive collection of ephemera. Sociopolitical factors are also brought into play, in order to make tangible for the reader just how radical this art movement was. Artists Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Luciano Fabro, Piero Gilardi, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz, Giulio Paolini, Pino Pascali, Giuseppe Penone, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Emilio Prini, Salvo, Gilberto Zorio