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¬ Daria Ghiu: How did you end up working for Manifesta?
√ Francesco Silvino: I had no job back then. I found out about
this position as guardian of the exhibition space in Ex-Peterlini
through the Office for Work.
¬ What did you think about Daniel’s work? How did you perceive
it? Did it sound crazy to you, or, at least, unusual?
√ My first thought was that all the artists exhibiting in Ex-Peterlini
are a bit crazy. Contemporary art is not something I am familiar with.
Let’s say that among all the works I see everyday in Ex-Peterlini, the
only one I’ve understood since the beginning was the Audiolounge.
If it were smaller and didn’t have the music inside, I could put it in
my house, as a decorative object. It is the only work an artist could
sell to me and I could exhibit in my home. In return, regarding
Daniel, I can’t see what he could sell to me … He would probably
leave my house with no doors...
¬ How do you relate to photography?
√ Photography is a hobby, taking photos is a passion I have, I am
not a professional. For example, in my holidays, I take one or two
thousand photos. I take photos every time something looks interesting
to me or when I think it would make an interesting picture.
The same happened with Ex-Peterlini. When Daniel came, I was
already taking pictures there. I’ve done it even more often after
I discussed with him.
¬ How did this project begin for you?
√ Unfortunately, when we were hired, we have been told that we
have to watch the space and… that was it. The same as we do in
Manifattura Tabacchi. Daniel Knorr is the first person who explained
to us that we are dealing with an open space where people could do
whatever they want. In return, the Manifesta people held us a long
discourse about the fact that we have to pay much attention, so that
nobody ruins the works exhibited. Nobody gave us special instructions
regarding Ex-Peterlini, or even took us on a tour as it happened
with the Manifattura.
¬ Throughout these months, you have witnessed to what the materialization
of Ex-Privato means, the theft of the DVD, or even the
people passing through. How did all these change your perception
about the space and about Knorr’s work?
√ I don’t think that my perception has changed very much.
Anyway, I realized that this is a space that needs to be explained.
Besides the passengers using Ex-Peterlini as a shortcut, the people
coming with their bikes or the children bringing their mothers every
three or four days in Janek Simon’s Volkswagen, there are many visitors
of Manifesta, familiar with contemporary art exhibitions. These
people have a certain manner to see the space, a conventional eye,
I could say, as they come to see the objects exhibited. They would
get inside, stop at every work, spend maybe a quarter of an hour
or even more (I have calculated that one needs approximately two
hours in order to see the entire exhibition) but would see only what
is visible, Knut Åsdam’s film or the pictures of Bernadette Corporation.
As I said, they have a conventional manner to see an exhibition.
We tell to these people that the person who makes the Ex-Peterlini
space possible is Daniel Knorr, who hasn’t built a touchable object
but, by removing the gates of this place, has transformed it in an
open space. To the very same people we explain that they could
come at two o’clock in the morning if they wanted, exactly because
this is a public space. When they hear all these, they remain speechless,
as they didn’t imagine the things in this manner. Even if the
gates miss entirely, it is difficult to observe something with no existence,
as we are used to see only what there is, only what exists.
Translated by Vlad Morariu
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