Alice Guareschi Presents Found Video Archive Exhibition at Spazio Lima in Milan

Alice Guareschi's solo exhibition "Limature 2002-2003" is currently on view at Spazio Lima in Milan. The presentation centers on five MiniDV video cassettes discovered in the artist's personal archive, containing footage recorded between 2002 and 2003. These videos document seven evenings that took place during the early years of Spazio Lima's operation. Guareschi describes the recordings as images made "for friendship," clarifying they were not originally intended for exhibition nor as systematic documentation, but rather emerged from relationships and shared time within a community. The exhibition title references metal filings—the residual fragments left after a shaping process—paralleling how these video clips represent marginal yet revealing pieces of a larger story. Spazio Lima was founded in November 2002 as an independent project space through collaboration with pconp studio, managed by Giovanna Amadasi, Andrea Lissoni, and Federica Rossi along with the cultural organization Xing, connected to Bologna's Link Project. It served as a meeting place for artists and students in early 2000s Milan, focusing on hybrid languages and experimental practices including exhibitions, publications, performances, and sound acts. The footage was shot at the original venue on via Masera and is now presented at the current location on via Benedetto Marcello, which reopened in 2021 with a renewed identity and programming. This geographical and temporal distance creates a short-circuit between past and present. The videos, shot with a small digital camera, retain technical imperfections like out-of-focus shots and light fluctuations that convey the spontaneous atmosphere of those evenings. The editing preserves original ambient sound—background noises, partial conversations, and sonic interference—which becomes integral to the film experience. The video has a modular structure with autonomous sequences for each evening, forming a constellation of moments rather than a linear narrative. A timeline displayed on the walls functions as both a storyboard and a map, highlighting the contrast between chronological event structure and the fluid form of the film. The exhibition includes two light installations—"hereish" and "yet not yet"—that dialogue with the video, suggesting shared investigative ground between cinematic and linguistic systems in Guareschi's practice. These neon works guide viewer perception, with "hereish" indicating approximate location and "yet not yet" introducing circular temporality between what has happened and what is yet to come. The presentation reactivates collective memory while acknowledging the inevitable incompleteness of any archive.