Cassata Drone: A Rhizomatic Visual Culture Project in Palermo

Cassata Drone, a long-term visual culture project founded by g. olmo stuppia, originated in April 2016 from a conversation with Stefano Cagol and theoretical discussions with Chiara Bordin and Giovanni Rendina in Venice in 2017. The project's first exhibition ran from June 14 to October 5, 2018, in an attic at via Malta 21, Palermo, now called Palazzo Storto, featuring Raqs Media Collective, MDR, and Stefano Cagol. Stuppia describes Cassata Drone as an open, rhizomatic project that critiques phallic-military power, criminal use of big data, and the erotic metaphor of Sicilian cassata consumption. The project includes an educational archive, Cassata Drone Expanded Archive, initiated with a walk from Sigonella to Palermo in Easter 2018, supported by Università IUAV di Venezia, Scuola di Architettura di Siracusa, and Università Politecnica di Palermo. The third exhibition, Preferire l'ombra, curated by Luca Gennati and Giacomo Pigliapoco, runs until October 30 and features James Bridle's Drone Shadow in Piazza Cassa di Risparmio, the first public installation of this work in Italy, with a petition to make it permanent. Other artists include Valentina Furian, Julius Neubronner, Paolo Cirio, Marco Strappato, and Il Pavone. The exhibition also occupies Loggiato di San Bartolomeo, courtesy of Fondazione Sant'Elia. After the show, the archive will travel to Paris for a performance and exhibition curated by Anna Battiston at INHA on November 15.