Arena Industriale

'Arena Industriale' consists of a series of photographs in three parts and one video. It was commissioned by curator Angela Madesani on behalf of the Biblioteca Panizzi, Italy for ‘Storie Urbane’ - one of fifteen solo exhibitions running (April to September 2006) devised for 'Settimana della fotographia europea' –(European photography week) in Reggio Emelia, Italy in 2006.

Invited to investigate urban spaces in and around Reggio Emilia to provide a ‘new view of the city and its community’ I located four sites in the industrial zone, and developing ideas explored in Drift (output 1) and strategies employed in 'Manifesto 3' (see output 2) produced still and moving images related to the transient living and working conditions of different groups of workers. These sites included an abandoned factory, a failing steel factory and a temporary village for workers building the new state network TAV. But access was restricted. These limits were then deliberately employed to define the conceptual parameters of the work, which proposed that ‘insignificant’ everyday objects deliberately placed or sited can configure space. Furthermore, how the ordering/disordering of things can signify the cultural, social, political determinants of daily life.

A second parallel exhibition in Reggio Emelia curated by Madesani ‘Al Limite - Art and photography in the 60s and 70s’ provided a reflection on the theme of the limit through works by Pop, Conceptual and Land Artists and provided a significant historical context for the ‘Storie Urbane’ which was accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue (ISBN 88-211-8560-5).

'Arena Industriale' was shown in Reggio Emilia from April to June 2006 and all the work I produced was consequently acquired by the Biblioteca Panizzi Photographic Archive. In May 2007 the Dimora series was included in 'Species of Spaces and Other Pieces' at Hollybush Gardens Gallery, London May – June 2007.