Riccardo Giacconi - Lo Scherzo
Lo Scherzo
Directed by Riccardo Giacconi
2016
pro res HD 1920 x 1080 points, 2-channel stereo, 25'
Through a series of conversations and a montage of previously unseen archival materials, Giacconi portrays singer-songwriter Alberto Camerini, allowing a rich narrative to emerge—full of details, variations, and quotations—which is masterfully relived together with the artist, in a continuous reflection between his former public persona and a more private present self.
Evoking key moments in Camerini’s career—who defines himself as a “cyberclown, harlequin, puppet”—the work captures the uniqueness of a style that merges pop, punk, folk, and electronic music, inspired on one side by Commedia dell’Arte and the figure of Giambattista Tiepolo, and on the other by technological innovations and the early days of computing.
“Lo Scherzo” is a project born thanks to ArteVisione (2016 edition), a project by Careof and Sky in support of creative talent. The work was presented at Museo del Novecento in an exhibition curated by Chiara Agnello and Iolanda Ratti and was broadcast in a prime-time premiere on Sky Arte HD.
Various versions of the project have been exhibited at: Fondamenta – New Entries, Artissima art fair, Italy; UNA Galleria, Piacenza, Italy (2019); Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow, Russia; Mostra internazionale del Nuovo Cinema, Pesaro, Italy (2018); FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France; Filmmaker Festival, Milan, Italy; Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy (2017); Museo del 900, Milan, Italy (2016).
SYNOPSIS
Evoking key moments in his career, the film outlines the peculiarities of his style, which merges pop, punk, folk, and electronic music, drawing inspiration on one hand from Commedia dell’Arte, Giambattista Tiepolo, and the Venetian eighteenth century, and on the other from technological innovations and the dawn of the computer age.
Camerini’s trajectory—including his beginnings within the radical leftist movements in Milan, his rise as a pop star, and his abrupt decline—is evoked against the backdrop of the so-called riflusso: a general retreat into the private sphere and a simultaneous political and social disengagement that marked Italy’s transition from the 1970s to the 1980s.
RICCARDO GIACCONI - BIOGRAPHY
Riccardo Giacconi studied visual arts at Università IUAV in Venice. His work has been presented in various exhibitions, including at Grazer Kunstverein (Graz), ar/ge kunst (Bolzano), MAC (Belfast), WUK Kunsthalle Exnergasse (Vienna), FRAC Champagne-Ardenne (France), tranzitdisplay (Prague), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin), and the International Biennale for Young Art in Moscow. He has been an artist-in-residence at Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen (Innsbruck, Austria), Centre international d’art et du paysage (Vassivière, France), Lugar a Dudas (Cali, Colombia), La Box (Bourges, France), and MACRO – Museo d’arte contemporanea di Roma. In 2016 he received the ArteVisione video production award, curated by Sky Arte and Careof.
He has presented his films at several festivals, including the New York Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Venice Film Festival, Visions du Réel, Torino Film Festival, and FID Marseille, where he won the Grand Prix of the international competition in 2015. He co-founded the listening festival Helicotrema and the sound storytelling workshop Botafuego.
TECHNICAL DATA SHEET
Production: Marta Bianchi (Careof)
Archive images: Alberto Camerini, Silvia Perego
In collaboration with: Carolina Valencia Caicedo
Sound: Attila Faravelli
Colour correction: Andrea Maggiolo (SAE Institute Milan)
Graphic design: Giulia Marzin
Filming at: Atelier Carlo Colla e Figli, Musicalia-Museo di Musica Meccanica
With the participation of: Martina Angelotti, Eugenio Monti Colla, Camillo Cosulich, Debora Coviello, Ivan Carozzi, Rachele D'Osualdo, Danila Domizi, Guido Giacconi, Guglielmo Giacconi, Valentina Furian, Mario Gorni, Maurizio Grillo, Andrea Maggiolo, Silvia Perego, Enrica Serafini, Caterina Erica Shanta, Franco Severi, Andrea Zaru
"Lo Scherzo" is a Sky Italia, Careof production
In collaboration with SAE Institute, Atelier Carlo Colla e Figli, Musicalia-Museo di Musica Meccanica
