TANGLE – Visual Culture in Urban Art
curated by Parsec and Andrea Gianfanti
TANGLE – Visual Culture in Urban Art is a project curated by Parsec and Andrea Gianfanti in collaboration with the Department of Business Sciences, University of Bologna. TANGLE aims to explore the role of art in urban space, activating artistic interventions in threshold spaces to transform them into places of artistic expression and collective participation. The project, from 2024, operates on the surface of the building located at the corner of Via Capo di Lucca and Via Irnerio, in the heart of Bologna, a point of passage and intersection. After an initial experimental phase, it was decided to continue with a new cycle of interventions, which deepen the dialogue between art, public space and social context.
The area involved in the intervention is part of a building designed by architect Enzo Zacchiroli between 1968 and 1974, an example of organic architecture, characterized by a brutalist and dynamic structure, capable of integrating into the city context and becoming a visual and symbolic landmark in the contemporary Bolognese urban landscape. The building houses the Department of Business Sciences of the University of Bologna and in the evening it becomes a crossroads of nightlife, with a continuous flow of people crossing and experiencing the space in different ways.
The first phase of the project enabled different types of direct interaction: students, female students and university staff saw a daily crossing point transformed into a place of visual stimulation and artistic reflection, and the local community responded with curiosity and involvement, showing a growing interest in the space and its transformation. In both cases, the project acted in the urban context by fostering a sense of belonging and participation. The works elicited heterogeneous reactions, including writings and tags often in dialogue with the proposed artistic interventions, a sign of an open interaction with the urban context and its inhabitants. At the same time, the project also attracted the attention of people within the city’s contemporary art sphere, helping to consolidate the space as a possible reference point for public art practices in Bologna.
TANGLE – Visual Culture in Urban Art continues its journey by questioning the role of images in our time and their ability to guide our gaze and the way we experience urban spaces. The project wants to open new possibilities for interaction, stimulate imaginaries and generate moments of relationship through art, so in the coming months, the space will continue to transform, welcoming new visions and leaving traces of an evolving dialogue.
