The pictures illustrating this issue were produced by students from Illustration and Strip Cartoons, and Graphic Design (specialising in Artistic Design for Industry). The wide variety of degree courses (three-year courses plus two years of specialised studies) and the broad scope of many courses gives the Academy a multidisciplinary, humanistic approach intended to achieve a high level of professional ability together with a capacity for innovation. The Academy also has close links with its local environment: art galleries, theatres, businesses, agencies, publishers and the like, while its educational functions are accompanied by frequent exhibitions and conventions; the most recent include the National Art Prize (featuring the best works produced by Italian art students) and Imagine iT, a three-day conference on the subject of cultural differences, based on writing and visual communications.

OUR THANKS TO PROF.
Carlo Branzaglia

STUDENTS
Benjamin Altermatt, Daniele Aluigi, Camilla Andreani, Daniele Asteggiante, Stefania Biagini, Diana Mara Blankson, Daniele Bonacini, Stefano Bonsi, Andrea Cagnini, Federica Catastini, Simone Cortesi, Alessia Curcio, Maria De Maio, Galileo Disperati, Andrea Ferlauto, Jacopo Ferretti, Marina Girardi, Elisabetta Gironi, Sarah Khamisi, Valentina Lasagni, Margherita Luzi, Stefano Maestrelli, Laura Maggiolo, Laura Malinverni, Fiorella Mascellani, Nicola Medri, Serena Muratori, Davide Onida, Claudio Pantaleoni, Nadia Pantaleoni, Cristina Portolano, Rossella Provini, Monica Rossi, Marta Rossignoli, Liliana Salone, Alice Socal, Laura Soriani, Valentina Spina, Alberta Tamoni, Marco Temperilli, Monica Tiazzoldi, Irene Tonin, Nicolò Vasini, Andrea Vernucci

One of the interesting things about being an illustrator for magazines and newspapers is that you are always learning new things as a result of the articles you´re assigned. When illycaffè contacted us in order for the students of the Eina postgraduate illustration course to create images for the illywords magazine, neither myself nor my students were familiar with the concept of kaizen. After researching the concept on the Internet, I decided to assign an in-class project where each student would create two initial sketches: a first piece showing kaizen in a positive light, and a second work in a negative light. The act of having to think about a conceptually difficult theme from two conflicting sides produced some interesting results.

For the final project each student was asked to create two works, a full page colour illustration and a second work where they were free to choose the format they preferred (rectangular, square, circular etc). All of us in the Eina illustration programme hope you, the readers of illywords, enjoy the results.

Philip Stanton
Professor and coordinator
of the postgraduate illustration programme,
Eina school of art and design

STUDENTS
Anuska Allepuz, Albert Asensio Navarro, Maja Babic Kosir, Pau Borras Sol, Norma Esparza Cervantes, Rafael Fong Hirales, Mariana Fontes Gorman, Raquel Fuster Valles, Roberta Gorni, Stefanie Labes, Luciano Lozano Raya, Alexandre Madureira, Miriam Miras, Gustavo Peres, Filipa Pontes, Dani Ras Aledo, Patrizia Schopf, Oriol Sintes Saez, Cyla Soares Costa, Anna Tó Cubells, Oriol Vaz Romero Trueba, Rodrigo Villas Bôas, Maria Zúniga Marca

Eina,
Escola de Disseny i Art
Passeig Santa Eulàlia 25
08017 Barcelona
www.eina.edu

What does it mean today to speak about “marketing plans”?
Communication plans are based mainly on advertising, on the careful arrangement of exhibition spaces, on leading articles and on events. In particular, leading articles present the company’s views through the journalist who is the person enjoying great credibility on behalf of the readers.
Events, on the other hand, are characterised by an innovative aspect because they are a form of direct contact with the actual consumer (who comes into contact with a novelty item) or with the potential consumer (who might, thanks to the event itself, fall in love with the product). Events can express the company’s soul in a profound and direct way, through an occasion that is not only commercial but also cultural.

What roles will the companies of the future have to play? Commodity suppliers or those who project values?
Products can no longer rely only on their material appearance because the value of a commodity is increasingly less embodied in the material with which the product was manufactured, tending instead to be crystallised in ethical elements. Ethicality is a fundamental chromosome in every company’s DNA, but it shouldn’t materialise solely in the form of a given instrumental asset. Performing ethical actions is mandatory, advertising them is not indispensable.
The Swarovski family, for instance, has always viewed ethics as one of its fundamental values; indeed, already back in the Twenties, the company had envisaged the possibility for its employees to purchase their homes by means of long-term no interest mortgage plans and, most important of all, without any obligation to stay with the company. To those who accused Swarovski of trusting its employees too much, the company replied that “the more a person feels confident in terms of economic and human satisfaction, the less he/she will feel the need to quit his/her job”. A great precursor of times, no doubt.

Some companies try to detach themselves from their specific product in order to share a world of values with their consumers; to what extent can Swarovski afford to be detached from crystal? Is it a matter of acquiring legitimacy in other fields?
In our view, crystal is a raw material but, mostly, it is a means to convey emotions. It can become an object embodying functional aspects but, when struck by a sunray, its facets will capture it, refracting it in the colours of the rainbow. In this case it bypasses its functional aspect to arouse positive feelings. It is difficult for us to detach ourselves from crystal because crystal is in itself a significance which, if properly declined, generates significance which reflect the joy of life, emotions and beauty in a vision which becomes similar to poetry.
Its beauty is of a democratic type, based on a philosophy whereby it is incarnated in the form of a right that belongs to humanity, as part of life’s values, and not as a privilege reserved for the very few.
Swarovski products are exclusive but at the same time they are available in great quantities on the market, to generate profit not only in terms of mere economic returns but also in terms of a greater widespread of social and cultural enrichment.

The growth of the industry did not affect the typical atmosphere of the old Gent: it is a town where old and new meet and incredibly enough make up one intriguing complex.

Studying in a city with a major university and several “hogescholen” (institutes of higher education), is an everlasting enrichment for each young person. There are 45,000 university and college students in the city: their presence (out of a total population of around 250,000) acts to really liven things up in the city. When you are not studying, there are lots of other things to do: you can go to one of the movie theatres, museums, concert halls, theatres, opera house, 274 cafés…

Sint-Lucas Visual Arts is an institute with a rich and longstretched history in educating arts dating back to 1862. Sint-Lucas offers three degrees in arts: a bachelor degree in Visual Design, a bachelor degree in Visual Arts and a master’s degree in Visual Arts.

The bachelor degree in Visual Arts is a profession-oriented Bachelor’s degree. The study program is practice-oriented and includes a work placement period.

The second bachelor – in Visual Arts – is an academic degree, meant to prepare students for advanced studies at Master’s level. Students can choose one of the following studios: sculpture, graphic art and illustration, painting, ceramics and glass art, textile design, graphic design, multimedia design, experimental studio.

The Master’s degree in Visual Arts is characterized by the integration of education and research and a Master’s dissertation. The aim of the Master’s program is to facilitate the personal development of students as young artists. The staff is responsible for the creation of a stimulating artistic and research environment.

Authors of the illustrations of this issue of illywords are students attending the second and third bachelor in graphic art and illustration, coordinated and directed by Prof. Gerda Dendooven.

In this studio, which includes both theoretical and practical courses, students are brought into contact with the most important graphical techniques; they are made familiar with graphical imagery and are encouraged to develop their own graphical language through personal research. Drawing in its broadest sense is the central activity of this studio.

The theme of this edition of illywords is “La cultura dell’ascolto” (or “the Culture of Listening”). Did this lead to the idea of choosing “Accecare l’ascolto” (“Blocking the ears”) as the title for the section on theatre and the role of theatrical performance in the modern art of Artissima?
A.B. The title, “Blocking the ears” was inspired by the theatre of Carmelo Bene, a great Italian actor who battled against the modern tradition of bourgeois theatre and script-led theatre with his naturalist approach. Bene rejected what is known as “director-led theatre” in order to restore the actor to his role as the ultimate protagonist of the theatre. Theatre is “made” by the actor and his “scenic” script rather than a script he has to recite from memory as a mere “entertainer” or “persuader”. In some ways the script is considered secondary, because a theatrical performance should be seen and experienced to the full. The word became enhanced and uncoupled from its meaning, no longer with the hitherto purely communicative function but taking on a meaning of its own, leaving traces of a sound interpreted as oblivion. In this sense, Bene speaks of “blocked ears”. We have dedicated this five-day event in Turin to this idea of a theatre as a “non-place” or a “universal place”, theatre as an “act”.

Is “Blocking the ears” intended to highlight the fact that the cognitive process depends on interdependence between the senses – or is it just a good title?
A.B. There is no need to highlight the fact that the cognitive process depends on interdependence between the senses, this concept is already very clear. As I said, “Blocking the ears” refers to a new way of experiencing the theatre. I have to admit that sometimes (but not always) I think it is also a good title!

What role has listening played in modern art, and how much has it changed during the past 30 years?
A.B. If by listening you mean the approach to listening and understanding, I’d say that this attitude has always played a fundamental role in art. You cannot see a work if you don’t understand it. If you mean listening in the strict sense of the word – with your ears – I’d say that from the early 1900s, hearing became just as important as sight. Think of the futuristic and Dadaist avant garde theatre, the work of John Cage, or the culture of “happenings”, performance and video art, for example.

What is left of the artist who used to closet himself in his studio or head off to far-flung locations in order to express his creativity?
A.B. Nothing.

Does the modern spectator want to listen, to get involved, or does he prefer a passive role, judging the work from the outside, perhaps guided by a critical framework that will help him to understand it?
A.B. There are many types of spectator, all very different. Everyone confronts a work of art as he thinks best, or perhaps to the best of his ability. A passive attitude should always be countered: to realise its potential a work of art always needs someone who can receive it and knows how to “listen”, in other words art needs us in order to exist.

Can art shows, rather than museums and biennial exhibitions, be seen as a kind of crossroads for thoughts and encounters, and therefore also opportunities for listening?
A.B. Art shows (the good ones) are effectively places where people meet and thoughts come together, so they can be seen as opportunities for listening. In the art world, biennale events and museums have a different role – obviously just as important – so it would be better not to mix up these different levels and confuse the public in the process.