{"title":"Bruno Munari","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"xerografie-originali-un-esempio-di-sperimentazione-sistematica-strumentale","title":"Xerografie Originali. Un esempio di sperimentazione sistematica strumentale","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom 1963 to 1977, Bruno Munari explored the creative potential of photocopying machines, treating xerography as an artistic medium through performances, exhibitions, publications, and collaborations with Xerox and Rank Xerox.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMunari produced his xerographies by moving images, patterns, and textures as they were being scanned, generating unique and unrepeatable compositions. Rather than using the photocopier to reproduce an existing image, he transformed it into a tool for creating new ones. Through movement, he explored xerography as a form of drawing with surfaces rather than lines, producing visual effects that conventional photography could not achieve.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSeven years after his performative participation in the 1970 Venice Biennale, where he presented an experimental, interactive laboratory equipped with a working Rank Xerox machine, Munari returned to the aesthetic unpredictability of photocopying in \u003cem\u003eXerografie Originali\u003c\/em\u003e. Conceived as a suite of systematic “exercises in style” conducted with new machines, the project explored a range of possibilities, from textures and patterns to “direct” self-portraits and colour photocopies. The results of these experiments are organized into categories and examined in Munari’s introductory text:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Systematic experimentation is carried out on the instrument to leave, if possible, no case unexplored. Every element of the process is analyzed in terms of its possibilities and tested in every respect. Experimentation, therefore, should not be directed toward a specific end; the results, if necessary, can be given a specific purpose. The sole aim of experimentation is to obtain the maximum amount of data, precisely for possible future use. The analysis will begin with the instrument in all its complexity, as well as with an examination of how it functions. Since it is a reproduction device, it will be necessary to determine its reading limits \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e– that is, how it perceives and reproduces black areas, and the maximum thickness of a mark that it can reproduce accurately. There are several models of electrostatic copiers, and this initial analysis must be carried out for each model. The adjustment of toner density must also be understood. It must be possible to obtain a very clear or a very dark reproduction and to determine the possibilities of visual communication.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMunari’s early investigations into the possibilities of the Xerox machine resonate with later experimental approaches to photocopying, including Alighiero Boetti’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e111\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e(1992) and Sigmar Polke’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eDaphne\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (2004), both part of the Metabooks collection.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Metabooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54847489540435,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/8898\/6963\/files\/DSC4567.png?v=1788445619"},{"product_id":"xerografia-documentazione-sulluso-creativo-delle-macchine-rank-xerox","title":"Xerografia. Documentazione sull'uso creativo delle macchine Rank Xerox","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom 1963 to 1977, Bruno Munari explored the creative potential of photocopying machines, using xerography as an artistic medium through works, performances, exhibitions, publications, and collaborations with Xerox and Rank Xerox.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMunari made his xerographies by moving images, patterns, and textures while they were being scanned, creating unique and unrepeatable compositions. Instead of using the photocopier simply to reproduce an image, he used it as a tool for making new ones. Through movement, he explored xerography as a way of drawing with surfaces rather than lines, creating effects that photography could not achieve.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor the 1970 Venice Biennale, Munari presented an experimental laboratory with a working Xerox machine. The public could use the machine to create original graphic works and xerographies on the spot. The project showed how the photocopier could become a tool for artistic experimentation rather than simply a means of reproduction.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe artist’s book accompanying Munari’s performative intervention at the Biennale develops this idea further, functioning as a kind of manifesto for the creative use of the XEROX. Its epigraph, quoting Marshall McLuhan, reads: “La xerografia saluta l'avvento della pubblicazione istantanea. Adesso chiunque può diventare autore ed editore.” (“Xerography heralds the times of instant publishing. Anybody can now become both author and publisher.”)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMunari’s experiments are both visual and tactile. He explores how the Xerox responds to different textures, surfaces, and materials, using the machine to discover unexpected effects. Unrepeatable in the range of its experiments, the book becomes at once a manual, a vademecum, a catalogue, a commercial booklet, and a poetic exploration of technology.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMunari’s early investigations into the possibilities of the XEROX machine resonate with the experimental photocopy works of Alighiero Boetti, including \u003cem\u003e111\u003c\/em\u003e (1992), as well as with Sigmar Polke’s \u003cem\u003eDaphne\u003c\/em\u003e (2004), both part of the Metabooks collection.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Metabooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54847549735251,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/8898\/6963\/files\/DSC4569.png?v=1788445858"}],"url":"https:\/\/metabooks.art\/collections\/bruno-munari.oembed","provider":"Metabooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}