Luca Vitone's 'Effemeride Prini' Chronicles Unrealized Dialogue with Emilio Prini

On November 10, 2016, Luca Vitone presented his artist book 'Effemeride Prini' at the American Academy in Rome. The book, published by Quodlibet, documents an eight-year-old project from Vitone's 2008 residency at the Academy, aiming to initiate a dialogue with the late artist Emilio Prini. Vitone, born in Genoa in 1964, considered Prini a reference since the 1980s when he was a student at DAMS in Bologna. They met in 1989-90 and maintained sporadic contact. The project remained incomplete as Prini never contributed his words; Vitone's diary includes phone call attempts and daily meal menus from the Academy. Vitone describes the book as having an aura of failure but also an alternative that led to Quodlibet's involvement. The work touches on themes of invisibility and fragmentation, also present in Vitone's participation in the 16th Quadriennale di Roma. The book costs €18 and is 104 pages.