Feedback The Environments of Franco Vaccari - Exhibition
Bolzano/Bozen, Bolzano/Bozen and environs
Museion is pleased to present a major exhibition dedicated to Franco Vaccari (Modena, 1936–2025), one of the most distinctive voices of postwar and conceptual Italian art. Bringing together photographic works, videos, artist’s books, and archival materials, the exhibition presents, for the first time, a comprehensive exploration of Vaccari’s environments as the core of his artistic practice. Conceived on the occasion of what would have been the artist’s 90th birthday, the exhibition marks the first extensive institutional presentation of his work in Italy in over a decade and situates it within a broader international discourse on audience participation, which for the artist plays an active role in the creation of the work itself.
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Trained as a physicist before turning to art in the second half of the 1960s, Franco Vaccari developed a practice that consistently challenged the idea of the artwork as a fixed object. Rather than producing autonomous works, he conceived his projects as real-time exhibitions (Esposizioni in tempo reale), in which the work develops through the presence and actions of the public. This approach runs through more than fifty years of artistic production, bringing together works across different media: from photography to sound and from video to early internet-based projects. For Vaccari, technology plays a central role in shaping how reality is perceived, remembered, and shared.
In his influential essay Fotografia e inconscio tecnologico (Photography and the Technological Unconscious) (1979), Vaccari described this artistic strategy as “occultamento dell’autore” (“disappearance of the author”). Instead of presenting a finished form, he creates the conditions for the work’s constitution to emerge through interaction and the presence, also collective, of the public, allowing an element of chance to determine the outcome. The viewer is therefore not a passive observer but an essential component of the work itself. This principle finds its most complete expression in Vaccari’s environments: often temporary architectures that transform exhibition spaces into places of experience. Built without specific design or architectural intent, though often using everyday or salvaged materials, these works remain open to unpredictability, privileging what happens within them over their design.
The exhibition is organized thematically and unfolds through a sequence of environments and other works that explore key aspects of Vaccari’s practice. Themes such as the traces people leave behind, the collective unconscious, and the formation of memory guide both the reading of the works and the exhibition design, developed by Fosbury Architecture.
The exhibition opens with projects that, through darkness, create a mode of approaching the unconscious, self-awareness, and the dream world, inviting visitors into an inner “descent,” both metaphorical and literal. In the works presented, perception slows and habitual ways of seeing give way to a more attentive and sensory experience. Environments such as La Scultura Buia (1968), Esposizione in tempo reale n. 19, Codemondo (1980), and Esposizione in tempo reale n. 20, Ambiente grigio multiuso – scatola per sondare lo spazio vicino e lontano (1987) create situations in which personal experience becomes part of a shared space.
The exhibition continues with works that address Vaccari’s interest in the traces of human presence in urban public spaces and in the social dynamics of temporary communities. Alongside the iconic project Esposizione in tempo reale n. 4, Lascia su queste pareti una traccia fotografica del tuo passaggio, presented at the Venice Biennale in 1972, and its development, Photomatic d’Italia (1972–75), an ambitious project realised through photobooths installed in public spaces across Italy, the exhibition also includes Esposizione in tempo reale n. 21, Bar Code – Code Bar (1993) and Mini Cinema (2003). These works explore social interaction, collective behaviour, and moments of spontaneous encounter. Vaccari’s environments are not presented as static reconstructions but as situations to be reactivated, capable of engaging in dialogue with today’s audiences.
Every Saturday and Sunday - 14:00–18:00
Art Speakings (IT/DE/EN)
Starting a dialogue and encountering Vaccari’s “Events in Real Time” firsthand
Every Thursday - 19:00
Welcome!
Free evening guided tour (IT/DE)
For the duration of the exhibition
Family Tour
