Once Upon a Time in Cosio
Artist Book, 2022

Is it a poster? Is it a book? Whichever way you look at it, this non-linear narrative unfolds from concertinaed pages to A0 squared poster to document the site-specific interventions of the Trasformatorio artist collective in Cosio D’Arroscia. Complete with mapped locations and enriched with sounds and videos via QR codes.

A story that started in 1957

Cosio d’Arroscia. Birthplace of Situationist International in 1957. Breeding ground of Trasformatorio Lab in 2021. The year that a group of 17 artists transformed the tiny Italian borgo into a laboratory for exploring its past, present and future through collaborative, site-specific interventions.

Bringing past, present and futurism together

Inspired by the mid-century movement, the poster book uses Italian-designed fonts from the late 1950s, a colour palette drawn from the region’s antique maps and an immersive format that turns the reader from spectator to participant. A homage to the Situationists – eschewing the Society of the Spectacle, and nodding to the notions that “everyone is an artist” and “one day, everyone will be a Situationist”.

Launched in Genoa

The book was launched during the Trasformatorio showcase weekend at Alle Ortiche, Genoa. We set up a laboratory for people to transform their posters into a folded book or construct an A0 poster or folded book from the leperello prints.

Concept
Design
Writing (with Fredd Bonelli and Jamie D. Huxley)
Editing (with Jamie D. Huxley)

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Public Disorder

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Conference of Birds