Vittore Baroni
Encyclopedia
Vittore Baroni born in Forte dei Marmi
, Italy, is an Italian mailartist, music critic and explorer of counterculture
s. Since the mid-1970s he has been one of the most active and respected promoters and documenters of mail art
.
He has written or edited various books on aspects of the “networking cultures” that anticipated the Internet, among which is the mail art guide book, Arte Postale. He has also contributed to many of the seminal works about mail art published in recent decades, including Chuck Welch's Eternal Network, H.R. Fricker's I am a Networker (Sometimes), and Renaud Siegmann's Mail Art, Art postal - Art posté.
In the past three decades he has organized many exhibitions, events, publications and collective projects in the fields of mail art, audio art, visual poetry
, underground comics and street art
, including 100 issues of Arte Postale! mail art magazine. He was the originator of formative networking projects such as the TRAX modular system (1981–1987), the multiple names Lieutenant Murnau and Luther Blissett, the Stickerman project and F.U.N. (Funtastic United Nations, since 2001).
He is based in Viareggio
, Italy.
, and instantly became heavily involved, participating every year in dozens of international projects and shows. From 1979 he organized a series of Mail Art exhibitions for the Forte dei Marmi Town Library and published the first issue of his enduring magazine Arte Postale!
In 1992 he created, with Piermario Ciani, the Stickerman Museum devoted to all forms of adhesive art. In addition to writing the influential books, Arte Postale, guida al network della corrispondenza creativa (1997) and Postcarts – Cartoline d’artista (2005), he also edited the books Rubber Stamp
Art by John Held Jr. (1999) and Artistamps by James Warren Felter (2002)
In 2000, Baroni was Curator of the Mail Art section for a large retrospective exhibition on the art avant-gardes of the 20th century, Sentieri Interrotti at the Museo d'Arte Moderna of Bassano del Grappa. He is co-founder of the cultural association BAU in Viareggio.
He has also conceived and coordinated several major international networking projects –
Baroni's 30th Anniversary in mail art was celebrated with a series of exhibitions and projects in Viareggio and Berlin, documented in six issues of Arte Postale! magazine, and culminating in the final, 100th edition in 2009. A boxed set of the complete collection of Arte Postale! was acquired by the Mart Museum in Rovereto in 2010.
He is also a prodigious music journalist. In 1982 he became a staff writer for the rock monthly Rockerilla, in 1989 he contributed to the monumental Enciclopedia Rock Anni ’80 by Arcana Editrice, and in 1992 he co-founded, with Claudio Sorge and Alberto Campo, the monthly rock magazine Rumore.
Forte dei Marmi
Forte dei Marmi is a sea town and comune in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany . It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians....
, Italy, is an Italian mailartist, music critic and explorer of counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
s. Since the mid-1970s he has been one of the most active and respected promoters and documenters of mail art
Mail art
Mail art is a worldwide cultural movement that began in the early 1960s and involves sending visual art through the international postal system. Mail Art is also known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art...
.
He has written or edited various books on aspects of the “networking cultures” that anticipated the Internet, among which is the mail art guide book, Arte Postale. He has also contributed to many of the seminal works about mail art published in recent decades, including Chuck Welch's Eternal Network, H.R. Fricker's I am a Networker (Sometimes), and Renaud Siegmann's Mail Art, Art postal - Art posté.
In the past three decades he has organized many exhibitions, events, publications and collective projects in the fields of mail art, audio art, visual poetry
Visual poetry
Visual poetry is poetry or art in which the visual arrangement of text, images and symbols is important in conveying the intended effect of the work. It is sometimes referred to as concrete poetry, a term that predates visual poetry, and at one time was synonymous with it.Visual poetry was heavily...
, underground comics and street art
Street art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
, including 100 issues of Arte Postale! mail art magazine. He was the originator of formative networking projects such as the TRAX modular system (1981–1987), the multiple names Lieutenant Murnau and Luther Blissett, the Stickerman project and F.U.N. (Funtastic United Nations, since 2001).
He is based in Viareggio
Viareggio
Viareggio is a city and comune located in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 64,000 it is the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia, and the second largest city within the Province of Lucca.It is known as a seaside resort...
, Italy.
Mail Art and Arte Postale!
Vittore Baroni was introduced to the mail art network in 1977 through Guglielmo Achille CavelliniGuglielmo Achille Cavellini
Guglielmo Achille Cavellini, also known as GAC was an influential Italian art collector and mail artist.Cavellini was born into a merchant family in Brescia, lombardy, where he ran a dry-goods shop through the post-war years following World War II.He produced many reinterpretations of concurrent...
, and instantly became heavily involved, participating every year in dozens of international projects and shows. From 1979 he organized a series of Mail Art exhibitions for the Forte dei Marmi Town Library and published the first issue of his enduring magazine Arte Postale!
In 1992 he created, with Piermario Ciani, the Stickerman Museum devoted to all forms of adhesive art. In addition to writing the influential books, Arte Postale, guida al network della corrispondenza creativa (1997) and Postcarts – Cartoline d’artista (2005), he also edited the books Rubber Stamp
Rubber stamp
Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized, onto a sheet of rubber. The rubber is often mounted onto a more stable object such as a wood, brick or an...
Art by John Held Jr. (1999) and Artistamps by James Warren Felter (2002)
In 2000, Baroni was Curator of the Mail Art section for a large retrospective exhibition on the art avant-gardes of the 20th century, Sentieri Interrotti at the Museo d'Arte Moderna of Bassano del Grappa. He is co-founder of the cultural association BAU in Viareggio.
He has also conceived and coordinated several major international networking projects –
- IM98: A Year Of Incongruous Meetings (1998).
- The F.U.N. (Funtastic United Nations) project (2002) with Piermario Ciani, which included the publication of the multimedia box Mail 4 FUN, and a series of exhibitions, Philatelic FUN
- Bank of FUN (2003) featuring a portfolio of artist’s banknotes from imaginary countries
- Obscure Actions (2004)
- Klang! Sound art festival (2009)
- Art Detox (2010)
Baroni's 30th Anniversary in mail art was celebrated with a series of exhibitions and projects in Viareggio and Berlin, documented in six issues of Arte Postale! magazine, and culminating in the final, 100th edition in 2009. A boxed set of the complete collection of Arte Postale! was acquired by the Mart Museum in Rovereto in 2010.
Music and Audio
Baroni has produced and published audio works since 1980 when he began recording under the pseudonym Lieutenant Murnau. The following year he founded, with Piermario Ciani, the international multimedia group TRAX to producing magazines, cassettes, records, t-shirts and live shows, and in 1991 he joined the musical project Le Forbici di Manitù which continues to release CD editions.He is also a prodigious music journalist. In 1982 he became a staff writer for the rock monthly Rockerilla, in 1989 he contributed to the monumental Enciclopedia Rock Anni ’80 by Arcana Editrice, and in 1992 he co-founded, with Claudio Sorge and Alberto Campo, the monthly rock magazine Rumore.