crossing-over

this is me, offering portraits for free. pic by matteo casari

this is a series of animated GIFs, starting from portraits i took in quartiere della maddalena, in genova, during a site specific performance. this place best represents the multicultural prerogative of this town: it is a crowded crossroads in which people of different ages, professions, ethnicities and statuses converge. there i offered portraits for free, during a week day afternoon waiting for people to ask for a portrait. in return i would have sent the portrait as a gift. the action triggered a relational situation not only between the artist and the portrayed, but also among the bystanders, who called other people and invited them to strike a pose. the spirit of this place – a melting pot – is reproduced in the form of the GIF file, as it is the simplest, minimal way to juxtapose two different characters in a dialectical way.