PERFORMATIVE READING  |  2LY

An exchange of letters of two pairs between London and Leipzig

Colorama, SM Studio, Florian∞Emden

‘Familiarity creates a new language, an in-house language of intimacy.’ But what happens to familiarity when it is publicized, widely? How do intimate thoughts, a formerly private conversation, react to being printed and (mis)read? A transeuropean exchange of thoughts and feelings, the letters explore these questions and plenty more, some more mundane than others, through a shared love for characters, words, and texts. Publishing, here, is understood as speculation, and a shared authorship as given.

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—SM Studio is the London-based collaborative design practice of Molly Cranston and Safiye Gray. They work across print, book design and intertwined image-text. Their approach is guided by deep friendship, intuitive making processes and expansive research.

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—F∞E – Sophie Florian and Hanako Emden form Florian ∞ Emden: They design posters, spaces, typefaces, and books, influenced by the feelings they share in their friendship. Cradled between typography and writing they live, love, work, and laugh in Leipzig, Germany.

—Colorama is a project space in Berlin run by Johanna Maierski since 2015. We publish artist books and experimental comics, print Riso-projects and run an educational workshop and membership program around self publishing, printing and binding.

• 22 NOV  →  Spazio Maiocchi

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EXHIBITION  |  COLLIDING INTO NEW RELATION

A book display on 'Seeing <—> Making: Room for Thought'

Susan Buck-Morss, Kevin McCaughey, Adam Michaels,

published by Inventory Press LA

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'Seeing <—> Making: Room for Thought' both studies and presents the creative process of constructing ideas with images. By activating the techniques of montage, the book reveals a wide field of view and a space to engage new critical connection between a multiplicity of objects from the past and present. Realized through an intergenerational collaboration of three cultural producers committed to making theory visible, a transformative anthology of critical essays by Susan Buck-Morss anchors this rhizomatic project. Images and ideas sync with Buck-Morss’ perceptive texts on visual culture, history, politics, and aesthetics, fusing criticism with visual play and linking collective imagination and social action.

Building upon the methods and ways of seeing put forth by visual thinkers like Walter Benjamin and John Berger, designer Kevin McCaughey (Boot Boyz Biz), designer, editor, and publisher Adam Michaels (IN-FO.CO/Inventory Press), and renowned theorist Buck-Morss collectively assemble colliding material into new relation. What results is a (typo-) graphic articulation that thinks seriously about the stakes of ideation and reorients the space of the book in the service of a theory and philosophy that speaks the language of our image-based information age.

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—Susan Buck-Morss is an American philosopher, visual theorist, and intellectual historian. She is currently Professor of Political Science at the CUNY Graduate Center, and professor emeritus in the Government Department at Cornell University.

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—Kevin McCaughey is a designer and co-founder of Boot Boyz Biz, a research and production cooperative based in New York.

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—Adam Michaels is a Los Angeles-based book designer, editor, and publisher. He is principal of IN-FO.CO (Inventory Form & Content), publisher of Inventory Press, and founder of the National Design Award-winning studio Project Projects in New York.

• 22–23–24 NOV  →  Spazio Maiocchi

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EXHIBITION  |  MAD - AUTONOMOUS WOMEN'S MOVEMENT

Lecce's first separatist feminist group

presented by Atelier Bizzarro and zizic edizioni

'MAD - Autonomous Women's Movement' is a book and exhibition that describes and documents the personal and political context of the rupture that feminism, a global and almost planetary unforeseen, activates in the 1970s with widespread practices of women's relationships and politics. In the case of MAD in Lecce it is about very young women, together, united by desire and practice of Feminine Freedom put, necessarily and for the first time, in the foreground. An experience of struggle and sharing, born in a territorial context often narrated as 'marginal' for great revolutions, the South and the province.

—Atelier Bizzarro, curated by Elena Campa and Ruggero Asnago, is an independent, nomadic publishing project with a focus on ethnography, art brut and folklore.

—ziczic edizioni, curated by Lilia Angela Cavallo and Silvia Tarantini, is a small independent publishing house whose main line of research and publication is the narration of places, landscapes and stories, often making different expressive languages coexist, from photography, to illustration, to writing.

• 22–23–24 NOV  →  Spazio Maiocchi

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EXHIBITION  |  GUTTER LOUNGE

presented by Shrub, an exhibition by Fern Teo & Shaiful Hardy

The show brings together original artworks alongside curated pieces from close collaborators, offering a comprehensive view of Shrub’s multifaceted practice. The works uncover the intricate relationship between geographical landscapes and the shared stylistic nuances of the participating artists. Drawing from street vernaculars and cultural idiosyncrasies familiar to the Southeast Asian diaspora, the exhibition documents the individual and collective creative processes that shape these influences. Former schoolmates Fern and Shaiful, have nurtured a creative partnership over the years. Both pursued independent projects - ‘Ripe’ and ‘Hause’ - which served as precursors to Shrub and laid the groundwork for their continuous creative collaboration. Their approaches reflect a commitment of resourcefulness, from processes to mediums, resulting in a sense of fluidity and playfulness that transcends conventional boundaries while preserving core themes and subject matter. With work by Fern Teo, Shaiful Hardy, Hause (Shaiful Hardy, Hazween Rosli, Izzwann Shah), Ripe (Fern & Cam Tu), tofu house (Annie Hung, Mina Choo), Jankhouse (Rin Tachihara).

—Shrub – founded in Singapore, is an artist-led independent space that serves as both a store and a gathering point. The space hosts pop-ups, exhibitions, and events while doing small scale publishing. Located in a former locksmith’s shop, Shrub embodies a raw, people-driven ethos.

• 22–23–24 NOV  →  Spazio Maiocchi

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EXHIBITION  |  THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SWISS BOOKS

The twenty titles awarded on the occasion of the prestigious competition held by the Federal Office of Culture that brings together the best of Swiss publishing. Each year, the award celebrates the work of the most talented book designers and their outstanding achievements in book production and art, highlighting and promoting high-quality works that reflect contemporary trends. A traveling exhibition is organized annually in Switzerland and abroad as a promotional measure to share and consolidate skills related to book design. 

The Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2023 (awarded 2024) 

List ⟶ HERE

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80 Years of The Most Beautiful Swiss Books Competition

'An Autopsy of Tastes and Values'

Catalog ⟶ HERE

In collaboration with Istituto Svizzero  |  • 22–23–24 NOV  →  Spazio Maiocchi  |  • 26 NOV–14DEC  →  Ten Thousand Feet

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EXHIBITION  |  BILLBOARD 

Jeffrey Cheung

Jeffrey Cheung is a Bay Area born and raised Chinese-American artist, and the co-founder of Unity Press, Unity Skateboarding, and THERE skateboards. Cheung’s bright, figurative work celebrates queerness within his personal life and within skate culture. He is a prolific maker, whose vivacious art examines freedom, identity, and intersectionality through bold color and intertwined characters

• 22–23–24 NOV  →  Spazio Maiocchi

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EXHIBITION  |  DO YOU WANT US HERE OR NOT

Finnegan Shannon

Finnegan Shannon's practice consists of designing interventions that make the physical and digital spaces in which their works are exhibited more accessible. Responding to the surrounding environment, Shannon pinpoints architectures and protocols that prevent non-conforming or disabled bodies from visiting or spending time in a venue. Their works highlight multiple needs, responding for example to the physical fatigue that a prolonged visit to a museum may cause. By addressing people with disabilities first and foremost, Shannon's works encourage the participation of subjectivities that would otherwise be excluded. Likewise, the artist highlights how everyday spaces and activities are conceived and designed according to a standard ideal of an abled body.

'Do you want us here or not' is a project started in 2018 consisting of a series of benches that invite people to sit and rest through handwritten phrases printed on the seats. For Pinacoteca Agnelli, Shannon designed a new set of six benches confronting the ideology of speed and movement with which the FIAT car test track that now houses the project was conceived. ‘I prefer gradual to accelerated. Sit if you agree’ or ‘I prefer staying to going. Sit if you agree’ are some of the phrases written by the artist to invite people to take a moment to pause and rest along the track walk. 

On the occasion of SPRINT24 four of the benches have been installed in the courtyard of Spazio Maiocchi ready to welcome the pause of those who have visited the ABF and resonate with their message in the space.

Also referring to a long history of demonstrations in which sitting represented an act of protest, ‘Do you want us here or not’ suggests that occupying space with benches is a way of emphasizing the presence of unseen and unheard bodies. For Shannon, accessibility is not a design concern, but rather a community-building issue, a matter relating to art and education. Accessibility is an ongoing learning process that prompts individuals, communities and institutions to question their responsibility to make spaces open to the largest possible number of people.

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—Finnegan Shannon is a NY-based artist. Responding to the context in which they work, they identify architectures and protocols that prevent noncompliant or disabled bodies from visiting or remaining in the space and create works that highlight multiple needs and encourage the participation of otherwise excluded subjectivities. They have worked with, among others, MUDAM Luxembourg, Queens Museum, moCa Cleveland, High Line and have been supported by the Wynn Newhouse Award, Eyebeam fellowship, the Art Matters Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Disability Visibility Project.

Thanks to Deborah Schamoni, Munich, Pinacoteca Agnelli, Torino  |  • 22–23–24 NOV  →  Spazio Maiocchi

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EXHIBITION  |  X–PRESS

Magazines that reshape the aesthetics of the 1990s

and shattered the boundaries of graphic design

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The titles selected - from Archivio Slam Jam & Archivio SPRINT - broke into the mainstream or remained niche, each carving out a distinct path and in some cases cementing their influence across multiple decades. Some began as uncompromising fanzines and have since evolved into corporate digital platforms; others published only a few issues, creating their own mythology before fading out; a few operated like secrets, distributed for free by mail only. Emerging in an era marked by the rise of desktop publishing and before the widespread adoption of digital photography, these projects were fueled by an initial personal effort and the dedication of a few visionary individuals, determined to offer alternative perspectives to mass media, igniting a desire for new ways of seeing, listening, and being in the world.

Featured Magazines*

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BIKINI, 1994–1999 circa, US   |   BLAH BLAH BLAH, 1996, UK    |   CUBE, 1993–1999, ITA

DAZED & CONFUSED 1991–2005, UK   |   GRAND ROYAL 1993–1997, US   |   i–D, 1980–2012, UK

  PAPER, 1984–2017, US   |   RAYGUN, 1992–2000, US   |   SLEAZENATION, 1999–2003, UK

  STRAIGHT NO CHASER, 1988–2007, UK   |   THE FACE, 1980–2004, UK

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*Dates reflect the original publishing periods and do not account for later acquisitions or transformations.

• 22–23–24 NOV  →  Project Room

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STUDIO VISIT  |  SHOW-AND-TELL – COMPULSIVE ARCHIVE

Giulia Vallicelli

Compulsive Archive is an archive and long-term project based in Milan, Italy, aimed at rediscovering and enhancing the lesser-known punk publishing, that of feminist and queer fanzines produced between the 1990s and the 2000s. Hundreds of fanzines, records, fetishes, bulletins, letters on paper and early emails represent the heart of Compulsive Archive, which intends to keep itself alive through different activities and moments of confrontation: talks, publications, exhibitions, artistic residencies, readings.

Starting from the idea of archive as living matter, able not only to tell the past but also to make people reflect on the present, Compulsive Archive has been included in the volume 'Out Of The Grid. Italian zine 1978–2006'. In the setting of SPRINT24, founder Giulia Vallicelli showed and commented some originals of the fanzines mentioned in the book.

• 22 NOV  →  Compulsive Archive

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ONLINE SCREENING  |  TRANSFORMERS: THE PREMAKE

Kevin B. Lee

curated by Insolente

Afterimage, Spazio Maiocchi’s digital platform, hosts the streaming of 'Transformers: The Premake' (2014), a unique video essay by Kevin B. Lee. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the film's release - a perfect occasion to revisit its themes. The video-essay explores the global production of 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' (2014) through an innovative, layered lens. Using YouTube footage shot by fans and bystanders and other data found online, the piece critiques and examines the marketing machine behind big-budget films, offering insights into how local communities worldwide engage with, and are affected by, massive film productions. The essay ingeniously combines desktop filmmaking techniques, capturing the fragmented, multi-perspective nature of online media consumption in an era of globalization. By weaving together diverse visual and narrative elements, 'Transformers: The Premake' serves as both a commentary on Hollywood’s power and a glimpse into the evolving nature of film spectatorship, questioning traditional ideas about authorship, media consumption, and the cultural ramifications of large-scale media productions. A text by Insolente introduced the streaming video.

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—Kevin B. Lee is a filmmaker, media artist, and critic. He has produced over 360 video essays exploring film and media. His films have screened in intentionally renowned festivals such as Berlin Critics Week, Rotterdam International Film Festival and Viennale International Film Festival, and have earned him, among other awards, the Sundance Institute Art of Nonfiction Grant, the European Media Artist Platform Residency and the Eurimages Lab Project Award. He is Professor of the Future of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts at Università della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano in corporation with the Locarno Film Festival.

• 22 NOV–14 DEC  →  Afterimage

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SPRINT MILANO ART BOOK FAIR  2024 

+  SURPRIZE AWARD #3

More than 150 participations from 29 countries have participated in SMABF24, converging to present books, magazines and fanzines.

For the third year, all the publishers selected for the fair, had access to the SURPRIZE - Supporting Publishing Practices competition. This year’s winners were the collective Robida from Topoló (Udine) with the project ‘Footnotes – Note a piedi’ by Francesca Lucchitta (author, designer), Vida Rucli (editor) and artist Margarita Athanasiou from Athens, with her book ‘VOICES’, both volumes will be realized by 2025.

• 23–24 NOV  →  Spazio Maiocchi + Regina Giovanna

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WORKSHOP RISOGRAPH  |  THE RISO CLUB  2024

curated by Silvia Carollo

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Risograph is an eco-friendly duplication technique into which the chromatic attitude of silk printing meets the fast timing of photocopy reproduction and the softness of inkjet prints. It’s a professional solution for little editions, due to its range of possibilities going from uniform tones to versatile analog patterns. AD Silvia Carollo led the workshop tutoring and helping during the development of the design, the printing planning and actions to produce - in two days - a small publication. Graphic sources was elaborated and warped together, starting with material coming from the Archivio Slam Jam and Archivio SPRINT, based on scans from original pages of a selection of magazines from the X–PRESS exhibition, dedicated to those projects that most marked the publishing scene of the 90s. The workshop call was open to artists, photographers, illustrators and visual designers who love archives, who wish to have a first approach or deepen their knowledge of Riso printing.

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—X–PRESS, catalog, 24 page, A5, printed in Risograph, colors: Medium Blue, Yellow, Green English text, Ed. of 200

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—The workshop was coordinated by oGiorgia Melis and supported in the printing practice by Martina Merlini (Press Press)  |  • 9–10 NOV  →  Flagship Slam Jam

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LAB. VISIT  |  PAPER CONSERVATION & RESTORATION

Lucie Page

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A rare opportunity to immerse oneself in the delicate world of paper restoration and conservation in dialogue with Lucie Page, a restorer graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre à Bruxelles, who has opened her Laboratory in Milan since 2020, collaborating with the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in London.

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The visit - hosted at the Laboratory - allowed people to get closer to those manual techniques and cultural aspects that involve the existence of paper throughout time, evoking case studies and anecdotes that accompany a craft practice often perceived as esoteric and on the threshold of magic practice.

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• 9–10 NOV  →  Lucie Page Studio

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