Cesare Pietroiusti Redefines Podcast Format in 'Monologhi al Telefono'

Cesare Pietroiusti (Rome, 1955) transforms the podcast format in a new series titled 'Monologhi al Telefono' curated by Donatella Giordano. Instead of a conventional monologue, Pietroiusti responds to an interlocutor by listing dictionary words, detached from their meanings or followed by precise descriptions. He states: 'A monologue is made of words; sometimes it is a solitary attempt to extract meaning from a reflection in speech form, but sometimes, when we speakers do not recognize it, the words themselves remain alone before their meaning.' With a background as a psychiatrist, Pietroiusti has always approached art analytically, investigating paradoxical situations, behaviors, and minor gestures that constitute everyday life. In this podcast, he redefines its purpose, conveying a non-finalized thought that creates disorientation. Pietroiusti's artistic practice began by chance in the late 1970s when he met Sergio Lombardo and started frequenting Jartrakor, a study center, exhibition space, and laboratory. His psychiatric training merged with the creativity of that period and context. His work includes performative and relational practices addressing political and social themes through observation of 'microevents' in daily life. Since the 2000s, his interest shifted to market logics, money/commodity exchange, and paradoxes within Western capitalist society. One of his recent performances involved transforming others' banknotes into artworks using sulfuric acid.