Elena Mazzi talks about her project for Elica and Fondazione Ermanno Casoli in this limited-edition publication, produced by the artist herself in collaboration with Boîte. Inside the book, you will find a conversation between Marcello Smarrelli, curator of the project and FEC Artistic Director, and the winner of the XVII edition of the Premio Ermanno Casoli award.
Mass age, message, mess age (Elica 2018) is the project that Elena Mazzi carried out together with Elica employees following the invitation she received by Fondazione Ermanno Casoli as the winner of its annual award. The title is inspired by the famous essay by Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage, which saw the author decide to keep the misprint present in the title (massage instead of message) to confirm his thesis on the non-neutrality of the media. The Elica company, to which this theme is very dear, required a training session on communication among employees, and thus provided an opportunity for the artist to develop a sort of “method”.
Indeed, the project proposes a reflection on communication techniques and strategies, stressing the possibility of making mistakes during the transmission of a message and the way this affects the course of subsequent events. By analysing the Elica context and starting from the word “change”, which is widely used within the company environment, the artist experimented with various communication techniques, thereby revealing its proximity to the word “revolution”, understood in the most scientific sense of the term, namely movement, rotation and therefore change.
Texts: Elena Mazzi, Marcello Smarrelli
Graphic design: Elena Mazzi
Translation: Matteo Bugiolacchi
Proofreading: Cristina Terzoni
Photo credits: Daniele Alef Grillo, Michela Curti, Elena Mazzi
Language: Italian, English
Pages: 52 + 12
Dimensions: book 22.5 x 16 cm; insert 16 x 11 cm
The artist’s book is not for sale and has been produced by Boîte in a limited edition of 200 copies.
