“The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, thought to say ‘this is mine’ and found people stupid enough to believe him, was the true founder of civil society. How many crimes, how many wars, how many murders, how much misery and error would mankind have been spared if, tearing out the pegs or filling in the ditch, he had shouted to his fellows: ‘Beware of listening to this impostor! If you forget that the fruits belong to everyone and the earth belongs to no one, you are lost!'” (J.J. Rousseau , Origin of Inequality, 1754)

Ti voglio un bene pubblico is an urban game that reflects on dividing infrastructures such as gates, walls, fences.  So much of what surrounds us is made up of walls and fences; understanding their meaning, from time to time, is a necessary civic practice. It is significant to note that the article of the civil code that regulates the construction of fences on land to define private property is called ‘ius escludendi alios’: to determine one’s own by excluding the other. When does a wall stop protecting and start dividing, segregating and excluding? And when a public space is fenced off and access to it is restricted, how much of that public space remains? When a wall is put up, how much of what is behind it can we not know?

In collaboration with Farout_Festival

urban performance ● in Italian ● duration 120 min. ● in the event of heavy rain the event will be cancelled

c/o Barona district Polisportiva Le Lumache A.D.S. Via Bari, 20/1, 20143 Milano MI

A project by Elisabetta Consonni for BASE Milano in collaboration with and ZONA K.
Concept and direction: Elisabetta Consonni, in collaboration with Sara Catellani, sociological consultancy: Adriano Cancellieri, artistic consultancy: Cristina Pancini, organisation: Chiara Panceri.
Co-production: BASE Milano, Fattoria Vittadini and ZONA K

Project winner OPEN /// CONTEMPORARY [URBAN] CREATION 2019.  It has been produced and realized by: Pergine Festival 2019 // Gorizia, In/visible Cities 2019// Terni, Indisciplinarte, 2019 // Milan, Zona K, 2019 // Padua, La Città che Verrà 2020 // 2020 PIA| Palazzina Indiano Arte-Florence: Exhibition. TVUBP- Esposizione Attraversabile di Materiali // Quartiere Celadina- Bergamo. Orlando Festival 2021 // Modena, Villaggio artigiano, Periferico Festival 2021.

Elisabetta Consonni received a writing grant from IN SITU, the European platform for artistic creation in public space, in the framework of the (UN)COMMON SPACES project, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

Elisabetta Consonni choreographs everything, human and inhuman beings, mobile and immobile objects, maps, interstices and spatial holiday groups. She weaves networks of relationships, subtle and strong, like sugar glass.Graduated in Communication with a final thesis on the social construction of the body in dance and graduated from The Place-London, Elisabetta Consonni then deepened her research in performing art living in Holland (2004-2009) and Poland (2013-2015). Her works aim to expand the practice of choreography by looking for performative devices to incorporate social dynamics and issues. Her activism in the social and civic sphere, takes the artistic form of a research process (documented in ergonomicaproject.wordpress.com) that since 2013 investigates the use and social meaning of public space and the declination of choreographic skills in community practices.

Photo by Samantha Cinquini