STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

Visual arts
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Street Artists in Europe
Happenings, performances, parades, installations: street artists work against a background of
architecture laden with history and symbols which they exploit or transform, using various
media (calligraphy, light, sound, video). They make people see the town in a different way. New
generations of artists, working more with the plastic arts, film and puppets than with theatre, and
bringing in all kinds of disciplines, even use new technologies to expand the range of feelings
and emotions, without in any way toning down the critical sharpness of their approach, which is
much more important than the show itself.
Examples: KompleXKapharnaüm, le Caravansérail, Amoros and Augustin.
These visual arts are related to urban plastic arts; artists, scenographers and photographers are
like performers, working within the urban setting. They set it free, make it vibrant by exposing
its fragility and the romance of its hidden corners. Like architects of the ephemeral, they
produce an immense work of plastic transformation.
In their productions, companies like Ilotopie (France), Groupe Zur (France), Totem, compagnie
du bout du monde (Belgium), Fura dels Bau(s) (Spain), Serbay (Tamer) (Netherlands), and
Boilerhouse (United Kingdom) are constantly reinventing a sensitive approach to our
environment.
New urban poems
Unlike cathedral builders and in contrast with the extravagance of the big popular festivals,
some street artists prefer the ephemeral to the complete, the elusive to the constant, the invisible
to the immutable, poetry to reality. With fleeting images, they alter the urban space so that
spectators lose all their spatial and temporal landmarks and the mystery of another life, another
town, is revealed to them. The ordinary everyday appearance of the town is transcended 107 .
Although they are often placed in the festivals and urban storytelling category, companies such
as Transe Express (France), Cie Off (France), Oposito (France), and Royal de Luxe (France)
also use these more evanescent forms. Artistic directors are often intent on exploring more
intimate channels of expression, since their very strong relationship with material and structures
can distance them from simpler and more direct channels.
The real and the artificial
Planners find that many forms are linked to the new technologies that are now widely used.
Younger generations have made these technologies part of their lives and it is impossible now to
live without them. The spread of these media raises questions about the role of street artists and
the relevance of what they say. Although they agree that technology does not change mental
attitudes, they point out that the number of companies becoming skilled in the use of light,
sound and video technology is on the increase. In fact, some companies (such as
KompleXKapharnaüM-France) work on the boundaries; they incorporate new technologies, but
demystify them, projecting huge images but with proximity sound that does not fill the whole
space, and continue to combine the use of technology with dance (e.g. Osmosis).
107 Classification established by Voisin, Thierry.
PE 375.307