Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa

Laboratory of historical-artistic documentation

Coordinator: Giorgio Bacci
Computer scientists: Giulio Andreoletti , Andrea Ficini
Scientific committee: Giorgio Bacci , Massimo Ferretti , Miriam Fileti Mazza
Collaborators: Federica Ellena, Elena Miraglio
Interns: Viola Fazzi, Elena Rocchiccioli, Marina Sabatini, Francesca Strobino, Lucrezia Visdomini

The structure that will house the research will be the Laboratory of Historical-Artistic Documentation (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa), which aims to study complex historical-artistic subjects, developing and incorporating part of the legacy of former CRIBeCU (Historical Artistic Data Processing Center), founded in the seventies. The Laboratory from the earliest times has addressed with particular attention the pictures seen as reproductions, understood both as a visual language, or as part of the notion of cultural heritage.

The Unit of the Scuola Normale, with a strong innovation both in the virtual architecture of the databases, and in the art-historical research methodology, develops the central theme of the reception of contemporary art from the end of the 19th century, according to a multidisciplinary perspective, combining figurative and semiotic analysis, publishing and historical fields, coming to the creation of different databases related to the common platform. The Unit will analyze the relationship between text and image and the semantic links between major and minor arts, starting from the semiotic theories of perception, developed by the 1950s, which, on the one hand, led to the experimentation and to the verbal-visual communication system, disrupting the mass media codes and reworking them into a new conception of art work, and, on the other hand, to a detailed study of the figurative systems (including illustrated instalments) of the early 20th century.

In particular, significant cases will be studied and digitalized, such as the periodical «Il Risorgimento Grafico» (1902-1941), and the archive of drawings of the publishing house Bemporad/Giunti. «Il Risorgimento Grafico» and the archive of drawings Bemporad represent, on the other hand, a precious opportunity to analyze the evolution of the graphics in the first half of the twentieth century, when innovative possibilities (both technical and expressive) are experimented. Furthermore, the comparison between a periodical among the most respected in its field, and the activities of a fundamental publisher such as Bemporad, will also allow the reader to follow in real terms the figurative discussion.

Integrating the work of the other research Units, which will focus on the 20th century literary and art periodicals (from the Art Nouveau atmosphere of «Riviera Ligure», to «Marcatrè»), the Normale Unit will study and digitalized important visual poetry periodicals such as «Documento Sud» (1959-1961), «Ex» (1961-1965), «Quaderno» (1961-1962), «Linea Sud» (1963-?), «Tèchne» (1969-1976), «Geiger» (1967-1982), «Amodulo» (1968-1970), «Lotta Poetica» (1971-1975, 1982-1984 e 1987).