From Socrates to Frigidaire; from the age of cavemen to the present
a cura di Giorgia Antonini, Lisa Magnoli, Naomi Sabato and Giulia Milanese
The term “counterculture” holds within it many things which may even be in contradiction among them. I don’t think that one can define it as a specific category unless it is done by convention. Namely, by placing in the hypothetical “counterculture” those cultural events which break out of the mould and intend to independently explore one of the many cultural fields.
Nowadays it is – so to speak – the array of cultural productions that buck the trend, refusing to belong to the dominant culture.
The signs are everywhere, in the arts, cinema, communication and in music. There is great wealth of cultural products which come from thousands of individuals who sometimes go unacknowledged, at other times are only partially so, and at others still get acknowledged late in respect of when they first appeared. The common denominator of all the forms of what we could call “counterculture” is the opposition to a kind of culture seen as a mere expression of power in all its various forms – political, academic, economic and social.
If the satire is free and sharp in its mocking not only of the constituent power, but also of that nestling within us by way of prejudices, aggressive behaviour, greed, etc then definitely yes; indeed, satire is one of the most significant forms of criticism and knowledge.
Of course it could because it places itself, in a knowingly imaginary manner, outside any existing political or cultural chain, it is a mountain maritime republic, the city of Arte Maivista (Neverseen Art), a nomadic place of reflection whose principle is that of rejecting the current social imbalance and any form of violence and exploitation of human beings and nature. The Republic of Frigolandia is an ideal revolutionary scheme, an example of practical escape from cultural cages.
It is not a matter of memory. As president of the Republic of Frigolandia, as editor of Frigidaire, etc. I am still engaged in the production of independent art and communication, alongside very many individuals who I find alike, or at least who go against a deadly global system which is leading us to a universal catastrophe and is already killing millions of people.
I have always stood from a revolutionary viewpoint and, in this sense, a programmatically “countercultural” one – hence I feel part of the makers of “counterculture” more than of those “counterculture” should have had an influence on. Incidentally, I think that the only true culture over the century has been “counterculture”, from Socrates to Van Gogh, from Christ to Marx, from Caravaggio to Frigidaire.
Do not give in to widespread soulless professionalism, which is enslaved to the vilest forms of business, fight to get to know (or be reacquainted with) the past so as to set up a better aesthetic and practical future. A more just world cannot be ugly, look for the beauty, elegance and intelligence that makes life grow and rejects death.
I restrict myself to the birth of Frigidaire in 1980, but it is only a summing up remark. Our fathers are ancient, they are the rebels, the inventors, the martyrs of freedom of expression and art who have always existed right from the cavemen and up to the present day.
Nobody has, because what is meant by “counterculture” is utterly alive and continues to grow, it is the critique of the ugly face of the world we currently live in.