SuperNova: Fino a nuove disposizioni by Davide Mariani

Curated by Celeste

03.02 – 24.03.25

LAVAPIU, Via Nicola Castagna, 9

Teramo

Davide Mariani’s (Cagliari, 1998) work Fino a nuove disposizioni (Until Further Notice) was selected as part of the SuperNova open call, a competition organized by Celeste and dedicated to students of Italian Fine Arts Academies.

Until Further Notice reflects on the shared sense of confusion and displacement among university students and young workers—protagonists of a migration in search of a better future, victims (alongside other vulnerable segments of the population) of the socio-economic phenomena affecting contemporary urban centers: the erosion of social spaces, inadequate public services, the scourge of over-tourism, the transformation of historic centers into consumption hubs, increased security measures, and more.

Mariani presents two graphic images inspired by cigarette packaging aesthetics: one features a digitally stylized window, the other a door. Both elements are topped with text reminiscent of tobacco warning labels: A city not made for people / an unlivable living – A fragmented city / a fragmented living.

If, as Ugo La Pietra’s famous slogan states, “To inhabit is to be at home everywhere,” Mariani denounces the impossibility of finding belonging—whether in private, domestic spaces or public ones. Drawing from his own experience as an out-of-town student, the artist interprets the disorientation “of those who, by choice or necessity, live far from their place of origin, finding themselves completely uprooted.” This is embodied in the Student Housing evoked by the schematically outlined window and door, as well as in the journeys between home, university campuses, and the city center (L’Aquila, symbolized here by green and yellow). A city whose urban and social fabric has been drastically reshaped—and called into question—by the 2009 earthquakes.

SuperNova is an open call for Italian Academy students, created to provide a platform for emerging artists. The project takes its name from the supernova phenomenon—stellar explosions capable of generating more energy than an entire galaxy—as it seeks to harness the generative power of ideas. The medium Celeste has chosen for engagement is the window sticker. The first edition of SuperNova was realized in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of L’Aquila.