Christian Caliandro: Artists must revolutionize life and economy

Christian Caliandro argues that authentic cultural innovation requires changing one's life, not just producing art within the existing system. He critiques the art market, stating that even successful works nullify their potential when inserted into the gallery-fair-museum-collection circuit. Caliandro invokes Virginia Woolf's 'To the Lighthouse' and Emanuele Trevi's 'Il popolo di legno' to discuss identity and deception. He reflects on the 'lost generation' label, tracing its origin to Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway, and notes its application to writers like Steinbeck, Dos Passos, Eliot, Fitzgerald, Miller, Remarque, Pound, and Anderson. The article references artworks by Mike Kelley ('Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites', 1991-99) and Monica Bonvicini ('Latent Combustion', 2015). Caliandro teaches contemporary art history at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze and is on the scientific committee of Symbola Foundation. The piece was published on Artribune in July 2016.