Christian Caliandro on Authenticity, Failure, and the Disappearing Self in Contemporary Art

In a deeply personal essay on Artribune, Christian Caliandro reflects on the nature of authenticity in contemporary art and culture, drawing parallels between Trent Reznor's album 'The Fragile' (1999) and Federico Fellini's film '8½' (1963). Reznor describes his album as a narrative of failure and fragmentation, using imperfect string instruments to convey impurity. Fellini recounts shooting '8½' without seeing dailies due to a four-month lab strike, which forced him to abandon his preconceived vision and accept the film as it emerged. Caliandro argues that contemporary culture's obsession with efficiency has erased the value of waste, error, and gift-giving—the very foundations of art. He positions himself and his peers as 'Costruttori di Nulla' (Builders of Nothing), whose attention causes things to implode before they cohere. The essay references Paola Angelini's installation 'La conquista dello spazio' at Spazio K, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino (2017) as a visual counterpart. Caliandro critiques classism in the art world, where culture is reserved for the wealthy, and calls for dismantling this system. The text is a meditation on disappearance, inadequacy, and the struggle to exist meaningfully in a distracted, efficiency-driven society.