Field Trip Part 1: Artist Edition

To say that our field trip was merely fun would be a huge disservice to the entire faculty who made this trip possible. Our first field trip was absolutely incredible, inspirational, and unforgettable.

Rising at the crack of dawn, we packed our suitcases and walked to Termini Station to go to Turin, our first destination for our field trip. Led by studio professor Luana Perilli and art history professor Paul Tegmeyer, we explored the historic areas of the city, including locations such as the Chapel of the Holy Shroud and Piazza San Carlo. The later part of the day was devoted to visiting the National Museum of Cinema at Mole, which showcased props, scenery, and clips from famous movies, including The Wizard of Oz! We were also given the opportunity to access the main elevator in the museum, allowing us to see a magnificent view of the entire city. With our walking tour coming to an end, we retreated to our hotel rooms for a good night’s rest.

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Cathedral of Saint Giovanni

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The next day, we visited the studio of an artist duo, Caretto-Spagna, who work with nature-based themes and materials in a former brick factory. The duo gave us a tour of their studio space and later kindly invited us to have some coffee and traditional aperitivos (appetizers) as they discussed some of their most recent work. Following the studio tour, we visited an outdoor exhibition space called Parco Arte Vivente (PAV), which combined organic elements with outdoor installation work to create an environment which emphasized the importance of maintaining nature in a public space. Stemming off of that idea, we then went to an open air exhibition space called Bioma, which also focused on the notion of nature and a larger public space. Created by Piero Gilardi, the works in the gallery highlighted the more conceptual themes behind seemingly simple items, such as the possibility of determining cell structure through a simple physical intervention. We left the space even more aware of the artistic relationship between science and nature, ready to further explore the theme the next day at the Museum of Criminal Anthropology. With some time left to further discover the city, we explored the various piazzas of Torino, eating gelato and admiring the magnificent views presented before us before coming back to our hotel to rest for the next day.

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Leaving our suitcases at the front desk, we headed out for our final day in Turin, with our first stop being the Museum of anthropologist Cesare Lombardo. The exhibit focused mainly on objects created by prisoners and the antiquated study of criminology based off of the physical features of accused and potential criminals. The exhibition, although outdated in its scientific approach, provided an interesting insight into portraiture as well as some of the earliest methods of identification. Although we were fascinated with the exhibition, we decided to see more exhibitions before we left for Venice, resulting in a quick trip to the Egyptian Museum with director Anna Rita Fiati. With one of the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in the world, the Egyptian Museum was truly a sight to see, with multiple remnants of hieroglyphic tablets, statues, and sarcophagi put on display. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to see the entire museum, eagerly returning back to the hotel so that we cold embark on the next, and arguably most important, part of our field trip- Venice!