In*Visible – a portrait of CREDA’s Launch Event of the SENSE. project.
Throughout the weekend of September 16th and 17th, 2023, CREDA hosted the SENSE. Launch Event, where more than 400 citizens enjoyed a playful and inspiring atmosphere.
Included in a broader range of events of the “Parco di Monza Festival”, CREDA SENSE. Launch Event revolved around the main themes of SENSE. The launch provided an opportunity to introduce the methodology and aims of SENSE to a diverse audience, gather the thoughts and reflections of the participants, and create an experiential context where each participant could place their perceptions and investigative processes at the centre of exploring the spaces that hosted the event.
The Parco di Monza Festival proved to be a perfect setting to host the SENSE. launch event because, in addition to engaging many people from the entire Region, it offered a full program of cultural events held in various locations, including the “Mulini Asciutti” – CREDA premises, which seamlessly integrate environment, sustainability, nature, and art.
Visitors at the launch event had many different ways to participate. They could simply obtain information on the project or actively engage exploring the space around and interacting with people, outdoor and indoor spaces, art installations and performances that challenged and highlighted their senses and perceptions.
Blue trees, a red sky, eyes moved on back of the head, a crowded environment that feels incredibly quiet – these are just a few of the activities that some simple tools allow us to explore!
Furthermore, participants met the artists of the installations spread throughout the “Mulini Asciutti” and engaged with explorers, philosophers, scientists and artists who delivered inspiring talks.
In the end, participants were invited to take part in the co-creation of an art installation where to share their experience and thoughts trialled by the following statement and question:
“We increasingly learn to memorize information about the world and experiment in it less; we become skilled at naming things and less inclined to touch them; we learn to read about stories and adventures and less and less to live and experience them firsthand.”
What do you think about this?
Thanks to the creativity of high school students from Nanni Valentini High School and their teachers, 24 teenagers created the installation of a theatrical backstage called In*Visible, serving as a scaffold for the many thoughts, wishes, hope of the participants.
These thoughts were collected in a way that literally elicited words to emerge from a multitude of thoughts, using the caviardage technique, inspired by the work of the Italian artist Emilio Isgrò.
The pages come from books from the municipal libraries’ archives that were supposed to be discarded but, instead, entered into a virtuous upcycling cycle in this participatory art installation. The spatial arrangement of the installations dialogued with the spaces of the Mulini Asciutti and allowed an open, welcoming and visually meaningful scenario for the thoughts of the participants.
We collected more than 135 pages, shared by kids, adults, teenagers, elderly people, artists, scientists and local administrators. Many different generations participated and interacted with the proposed activities. Each participant proceeded at their own pace, choosing their preferred means of exploration.