The series of lectures hosted by the Teatro Sperimentale in Pesaro, Italian Capital of Culture 2024, ended a few weeks ago. Presented by Intesa Sanpaolo and Marsilio Arte, the event involved four protagonists of contemporary culture, who used art as a tool to start a reflection on the present. That’s how it went

Art reads the world: this was the claim that accompanied the debut of on Art Pesaro, the joint event by Intesa Sanpaolo and Marsilio Arte staged at the Teatro Sperimentale. In the wake of the themes proposed by Pesaro Italian Capital of Culture 2024 ‒ nature, culture, technology ‒, Stefano Mancuso, Chiara Valerio, Laura Pepe and Riccardo Falcinelli shaped four different tales ‒ inspired by their disciplines of expertise ‒, guiding the audience along a path full of ideas and new perspectives on the present time.

 

During the lecture entitled Man is the measure of all things, Stefano Mancuso, lecturer in Plant ethology and General arboriculture at the University of Florence and director of the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology (LINV), questioned the impact generated by the secular centrality of the human being, who understands himself as the “measure” of all that is. What effects does this hierarchical belief create in the different fields of existence and in art in particular? If, since the 1600s, those who paint human figures have been considered better artists than those who depict living animals, plants or motionless objects, it is therefore not surprising that, jumping forward to recent times, Lucian Freud is widely celebrated for his ability to depict human beings, but not for his equally extraordinary ability to portray the plant world.
But what is the future of images? And what relationship do they establish with words? This question was asked by Chiara Valerio ‒ writer, editor and radio host ‒ in a lecture emblematically entitled All images will disappear. Relying on the familiar universe of literature, Valerio hypothesized the fate of images in the age of Artificial Intelligence: since they notoriously take up space to be stored, it is natural to convert them into a series of instructions that must nevertheless be provided to the machine in the most effective way possible. Mastering the logic of description and the rules of ecphrasis then becomes a prerequisite for images to take on new “guises”, freeing themselves from the limitations of memory space.

 

 

One of the most complex relationships of all time was examined in the lecture Man and Nature in the classical world delivered by Laura Pepe, historian and scholar of the classical world, lecturer in Roman law and the Rights of antiquity at the University of Milan. Mythology and the thought of authors like Ovid and Lucretius illuminated a tale studded with metamorphoses and leaps, in both directions, between the worlds of nature and culture. From the myth of Actaeon to the founding legend of Thebes, the dialogue between the two spheres proceeds under the sign of harmony and discontinuity, revealing a system that is at times conflicting, even though the criterion of human respect for nature is one of the cornerstones on which the foundations of ancient Greek civilization rest.

 

Nature was once again in the spotlight during the concluding lecture by Riccardo Falcinelli, graphic designer, author and lecturer in the Psychology of perception at the ISIA Faculty of Design in Rome. He entitled his talk How to look at a landscape. (Artificial natures and natural artifacts) and shifted the focus to our gaze, asking: what do we really look at? And what do a forest painted by Corot and a photograph taken today in a holiday resort and published on social platforms have in common? The answers come if we break down the device of images and understand their use and mechanisms. This is the only way to understand that the gaze we place on the world ‒ in this case on the landscape ‒ always has a cultural background and is therefore conditioned ‒ often unconsciously ‒ by the images we have already seen.
Giving the audience different perspectives to observe reality, Stefano Mancuso, Chiara Valerio, Laura Pepe and Riccardo Falcinelli composed a mosaic in which art is a versatile piece, combining well with the many different disciplines called upon during the on Art Pesaro lectures.

Arianna Testino

SPEAKERS’ BIO
Stefano Mancuso teaches Plant Ethology and General Arboriculture at the University of Florence. He is the founder of Plant Neurobiology and directs the LINV (International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology). He is Academician Emeritus of the Accademia dei Georgofili. His books have been translated into 27 languages.

Chiara Valerio is a writer, editor and radio host. She has published essays, novels, short stories, including Il cuore non si vede (2019), La matematica è politica (2020), Nessuna scuola mi consola (2021), Così per sempre (2022), La tecnologia è religione (2023), Chi dice e chi tace (2024). Her texts are translated into several languages.

Laura Pepe teaches Roman law and the rights of antiquity at the University of Milan. She has collaborated with the television channel Focus. Her latest books include Storie meravigliose di giovani greci (Laterza, 2022) and I tendini di Zeus. Corpo, anima e immortalità nel mito greco (Solferino, 2023).

Riccardo Falcinelli is one of the most appreciated Italian graphic designers. He teaches Psychology of Perception at the ISIA Faculty of Design in Rome. For Einaudi Stile Libero he published Critica portatile al visual design (2014), Cromorama (2017), Figure (2020) and Visus (2024). His books are translated into several languages.

Filming and editing of the first video: Matteo Catania and Elena Gatto, Hubove Studio

Translation of what is written in the first video:

On Art Pesaro. Art reads the world

History, mythology, science, innovation, nature are all fields not only capable of dialoguing with art, but also of posing questions, doubts and issues that art itself tries to answer.

“Man is the measure of all things”
with Stefano Mancuso

“All images will disappear”
with Chiara Valerio

“Man and Nature in the classical world”
with Laura Pepe

“How to look at a landscape. (Artificial natures and natural artifacts)”
with Riccardo Falcinelli

Four lectures by Marsilio Arte at the Teatro Sperimentale in Pesaro