A ride on an old 127 as performance art: the project of Cristian Chironi

A ride in 127 as performance art. It happens in Calasetta (South Sardinia), where the MACC Foundation from August 23 to 31 presented Calasetta Drive, a series of site-specific performances by artist Cristian Chironi that took place in conjunction with the artist’s residency in Calasetta, as part of initiatives aimed at promoting dialogue on contemporary art through interventions to enhance the territory.

Calasetta Drive featured as the protagonist of the project is a Fiat 127 Special, affectionately dubbed “Chameleon” for its ability to change color depending on where it stops. The car, inspired by the color combinations typical of homes designed by Le Corbusier, becomes a symbolic vehicle in the performance to explore themes such as travel, mobility, housing and social transformations, with a focus on contemporary issues plaguing Sardinia, such as wind exploitation and the impact of renewable energy on the landscape.

The audience was invited to board Chameleon for a journey through the village of Calasetta, accompanied by Cristian Chironi’s narratives and sounds created in collaboration with well-known musicians and sound designers, including Francesco Brasini, Alessandro Bosetti, Massimo Carozzi, Paolo Fresu and Gavino Murgia. The performance developed around Le Corbusier’s slogan “a house is a car for dwelling,” reinterpreted in a mobile environment that collects stories and life trajectories. The choice of the Fiat 127 is not accidental: the car evokes an episode in the life of Costantino Nivola, Chironi’s countryman and Le Corbusier’s collaborator. In the 1980s, Nivola, now ill, entrusted his nephew Daniele with the task of retrieving some of his possessions fromItaly, including a Fiat 127 loaded with works of art. This symbolic journey now becomes the focus of Chironi’s project, which transforms a simple vehicle into a platform for dialogue and reflection.

Each 30-minute performance was open to three passengers, involved in a conversation aimed at exploring the meaning of the journey undertaken. Calasetta Drive thus drew a map to highlight the complex geographic and historical layering of the city, addressing themes such as migration, memory and the construction of a sense of belonging.

Pictured: FIAT 127 Special (Chameleon). Ph. credit: Alexa Hoyer, courtesy Magazzino Italian Art.

A ride on an old 127 as performance art: the project of Cristian Chironi

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