Fase Due: Contemporary Art and Fiction in the Post-Lockdown Era

Christian Caliandro, an art historian and professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, publishes the eighth installment of his series 'Fase Due' on Artribune, reflecting on the role of contemporary art during and after the COVID-19 lockdown. He argues that the crisis has forced art to abandon fiction and embrace authenticity, proposing two complementary paths: digital and analog (physical presence). Caliandro contends that the pandemic has accelerated a shift from cultural consumption to intimate experience, favoring domestic, fragile, and incomplete works over ideal ones. He critiques the performative authority of roles and power structures in the art world, advocating for collective interest over private gain. The text references a 2020 Artribune article by Caliandro on the crisis as an opportunity, and quotes Germano Celant's 1984 essay 'Un’arte iconoclasta' and Emily Dickinson's poetry. The series includes previous installments on sustainability, contempt, the delay of contemporary art, and connections. Caliandro teaches at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze and serves on the scientific committee of Symbola Foundation for Italian Qualities.