It is an immobile movement.
A still life in action. Precisely what has taken the stage before all our eyes in this undisclosed and unconcluded 2020. A lockdown for our bodies, like these bodies photographed and placed on big billboards by Alessio Bolzoni. Before the summer, in the early phase of the Coronacene, from 11 to 21 June, in the center and outskirts of Milan. Suspended in potential action, awaiting reactivation. Sneakers, leggings, hoodies can
be seen as in an unconsummated ad campaign, where Bolzoni is well aware of the timing and the rules, in their attempt to trigger reaction. As in a Netflix freezeframe. The stop on a Zoom call. The shutdown of an Instagram live feed.
While Milan was under pressure, holding its breath, trapped behind windows shuttered and timidly reopened, these interiors with bodies appeared against an urban landscape stripped of its commercial noise. Silent, clean, just as it never was. The white backgrounds of these enormous photos printed on blueback poster paper, without a logo, without words, without foreshadowed meaning, presented simple, anonymous bodies: what we are. To accompany a surreal cityscape, to remind us of the clock stopped in the real, dramatic reality of the virus. Which isn’t finished. This was not Alessio Bolzoni’s plan. Action Reaction wasn’t born during lockdown.
He had to wait two years to understand when its actors would take the stage. As if he had
a premonition. External action, then, set off a reaction. And there they were, the printed images, in the city. Flash Art loves borderlines, as in the situation of discussion – action – reaction. We’ve been doing it since 1967. Alessio Bolzoni’s work is courageous and direct. With perfect timing. This is why we are supporting it with this publication, which activates the memory of a moment that is still in progress.
by Gea Politi and Cristiano Seganfreddo.
