Christian Caliandro on U2, emptiness, and the art of distraction

Christian Caliandro, art historian and professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, writes a reflective essay for Artribune drawing on U2's 1987 song "Where the Streets Have No Name" to discuss contemporary culture, attention, and artistic practice. He contrasts the approaches of artists Gian Maria Tosatti and Alessandro Bulgini, both involved in the "Giorni di Calais" project. Tosatti focuses on relics and an archaeology of the future, using stratigraphy and core sampling to transform physical spaces metaphorically. Bulgini follows Goffredo Parise's dictum that the purest art is that of life itself, capturing living moments. Caliandro critiques a culture dominated by conformism and risk aversion, arguing for a condition of having "nothing to lose" to foster new objects and perspectives. He describes writing as an interference born from emptiness and distraction, thriving on margins and intervals. The essay references Bono's explanation of the song's inspiration: in Belfast, street names reveal religion and income, and the song imagines a place where such divisions dissolve.