ABSTRACT
Establishing a complex, often polemical dialogue with the city and its inhabitants, Segnali di fuoco was an early example of Arte Ambientale While there has been ample attention to movements such as the post-minimalist group Arte Povera and postmodern painterly movement Transavanguardia, Arte Ambientale has languished in relative obscurity. In recounting the story of Arte Ambientale artists, expands Italian post-war scholarship beyond traditional art historical sites and sources. It raises broad questions about the nature of cultural production and ideology precisely because these subjects operated at on margins of the arts institutional structure yet were at the core of Italy’s cultural crisis during the 1970s. The decade’s unique circumstances enabled artists to carve out new pathways for expression and experimentation, often making radical choices and ideological commitments in their aesthetic practice. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
