Vincenzo Trione's 'L'opera interminabile' Proposes a Museum Without Walls for 21st-Century Art

Vincenzo Trione has published 'L'opera interminabile. Arte e XXI secolo' (Einaudi, Turin, 2019, 588 pp., €40), a book that constructs an imaginary 'museum without walls' housing monumental, ambitious installations that could never coexist in a physical museum. Trione selects works from the 21st century by artists including Hermann Nitsch, William Kentridge, Mimmo Paladino, Anselm Kiefer, Philippe Parreno, Peter Greenaway, Björk, Es Devlin, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu. He argues these works transcend traditional media boundaries, merging visual arts, theater, music, cinema, and literature into single, 'interminable' (unfinishable) projects. The title references Freud's concept of interminability, applied to art that is perpetually in process. Trione emphasizes the work of critics as interpreters, not just curators or interviewers. The book includes a blurb by Orhan Pamuk. Trione also discusses his writing style, which blends narrative fluency with scholarly notes, and his broader critical practice across different platforms, including the cultural supplement 'la Lettura' and his previous book 'Effetto città'.