Christian Caliandro on 'Fringed Art' and the Need for Truth

In a two-part essay published on Artribune in March 2022, art historian Christian Caliandro argues that contemporary art must abandon institutional rhetoric and embrace truth. Drawing on Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 'Live Not by Lies' (1974), he calls for artists to reject servitude to falsehood and instead pursue spiritual independence. Caliandro defines 'fringed art' (arte sfrangiata) as a personal, non-commercial practice made 'for one another, among friends,' citing filmmaker Jonas Mekas's 'Anti-100 Years of Cinema Manifesto' (1996). Mekas advocated for small, invisible acts of the human spirit over blockbuster spectacles. Caliandro insists that art must stop performing itself and instead challenge models of success, utility, and profit. The essay is part of a series on 'fringed art' and its importance today.