Napoli :: Italy

May 27 - 30 :: 2016

Tien'Ament

Squatter / Activist Conference & PARTY !

05. 26. 2016

Squished up on a tiny ledge on the corner of a very busy and Narrow Scooter Street a few doors down from the Tien'Ament Venue :: Waiting for Bostick to take me there and there is a Saint up on the boarded up Church looking down on me with disapproval and looks like he is wielding a bat :: an Italian women came up to ask me for directions at one point then Bostick came up asking me for spare change :: didn't recognize him with the big beard hahaha. 

The venue called Tien'Ament has been squatted since 1989 and is a Huge and Beautiful Complex which used to be a Children's Prison so it was also a bit creepy. There were still cells in some areas :: with padding and no windows :: a little hole for a toilet :: just a slot very high up in the door so the kids could not see out. I met a guy at the event who had been incarcerated in this prison when he was a kid. He was a really nice guy.

Also in the Complex is a Theatre and a huge courtyard :: walkways around the second floor :: lots of abandoned decrepit rooms that were filled with Artist's Installations :: a lot of cool little nooks and crannies. 

All of the presentations took place in a Huge Church that is attached to the complex :: Very Beautiful but also commandeered and converted to the Religion of the Radical with massive portraits of a Rebel Woman and a Pirate and other Proclaimations as well as a Cross set up so you could take a "Selfie with Jesu" . The ceiling was Incredibly High and inhabited pigeons. Everyone was smoking and dogs were welcome. It was a Very Beautiful Place. 

I had an AMAZING TIME in Napoli and Hope to be back Next Year !!

Huge Thanks to Lucia, Bostick, Vanni, Fernanda, Alessandro and Everyone Else. 

05. 28. 2016

Bifo

Speaking on a Panel with Jim Fleming moderated by Vanni D'Alessio

I could actually get a lot of what he was talking about even though it was all in Italian. 

05. 28. 2016

Jim Fleming Panel with Bifo and Vanni

I had done my presentation just before this one and both me and Jim had to have Italian Translators. It was funny because they kept having to have little discussions to figure out how to translate what we were trying to say. At least I had a lot of visuals. Next Year I am going to be Much More Prepared. 

05. 28. 2016

Joe Rush

Afterwards I asked him if he had been involved in the Stonehenge Festivals that Penny Rimbaud writes about in Last Of The Hippies and Shibboleth :: Yes he had been ! Also asked him if he had worked with Spiral Tribe :: YES of Course !! This guy was great and not just because he spoke english so I could understand him. He was a fun guy. 

05. 29. 2016

Communist

I don't know what this guys name was but Lucia told me he was a Communist. When I got to the huge church where all the presentations were happening I wanted to sit in the front so I could draw so I went to the front pew and sat next to this guy who was still waiting to speak. Wow he sure gave me the Stink Eye! Then :: While he was speaking someone asked a question and he got Really Pissed Off! His face turned bright red and he started yelling and Talking Really Fast. He was a Very Aggro Communist.

05. 29. 2016

Russian Women's Choir

Showed up to sing for us. They were pretty Amazing. It was around 2pm and we had started drinking wine about an hour before. Then was the Round Table Discussion which was a lot of fun with more red wine. I could drink that wine all day and not get drunk or have a hang over. It was just Happy Time !

05. 26. 2016

Andrea Adamo

Wow :: have not seen Andrea since 1998 !! The last time a was in Napoli. He was as crazy as ever an hilarious as ever. 

05. 27. 2016

Bostick and Lucia Vitrone

Opening Statements from Bostick and Lucia :: both members of Legendary Italian Punk Band Contrapotare :: I was staying with Lucia who is one Badass and Amazing Lady ! I had stayed with her back in 1998 as well. I wish I could have stayed longer. 

05. 27. 2016

Anarchist and Communist Panel

Vanni moderated this panel which I could not understand as it was all in Italian. I wish I could have! These guys were all from Rome and involved in squatting and social centers. I drew in the background the top of the ceiling which was very high and had that Arch on it. 

05. 29. 2016

Guy with Hands

I Loved This Guy ! I was so captivated by his hands. I was looking intently trying to draw as he was moving at lightening speed. He noticed how intensely I was concentrating on him and I think he thought I was really into what he was talking about because he kept looking at me and was sort of talking at me in that way.

05. 31. 2016

Vocabulary Lession from Lucia Vitrone

Much Needed! Wrote these notes as we were Finally having the Very Delicious Neapolitan Pizza that I had been craving since my arrival ! And also the Most Exquisite Italian Pastries. Last time I was in Italy it was 1998 and just after a 3 month God is my Co-Pilot tour so I was used to speaking foreign languages and I was slightly proficient in French so I had been able to speak and understand a bit of Italian. But this trip I was not prepared at all. So Yes :: Thank You Lucia for refreshing me on the essentials.

05. 29. 2016

Round Table Discussion

With Jim Fleming, Fernanda Spina, Alessandro Bresolin, Vanni D'Alessio and others. Interesting discussion thankfully in English. Very different and also similar takes on Art Culture, Rebellion, Squatting, Activism.

05. 27. 2016

Bostick and Opening Panel

I could not understand a word. But some great drawings !