Permafrost, the artist’s book by Marco Raparelli, is divided into four chapters in which texts and drawings dialogue with the reader ironically illustrating some rules related to the etiquette in social relationships, the dynamics, places and people of the art system, and the phases of an experiment concerning the use of LSD. Leafing through the book, similar to a scrapbook, the reader is completely absorbed within a two-dimensional and monochrome world, up to the last page, through which one can return to the rest of his/her own life.

“Nè Qui Nè Altrove” is the title of a book and show that is the result of a collaboration between two artists and friends: Giuseppe Pietroniro and Marco Raparelli. They worked around the concept of a museum within the context of a very special museum: the former house of Hendrik Andersen, a Norwegian dandy sculptor who spent part of his life in Rome. Giuseppe and Marco altered the display of the collection adding drawings and small sculptures all over the place. A true collaboration by two artists both excited by the idea of playing alone in the house when the parents left for a long holiday.

Marco Raparelli and Stefania Galegati, pretend to be two curators: Norberto Dalmata and Scintilla Robina. The book is a collection of emails that they send each other during a 3 months period, trying to develop the project of a show together, deciding themes and artists that they like and adding comments to everyday life and art experiences.They printed and cut out all the email, and build up the book in a very manual way, keeping erasures and pieces of tape and drawing over it.The book is written in english, that is obviously not their mother-language.The two curators now exist. They have their own characters, life and different projects. They really enjoyed sharing this experience, and they are already starting to work to new projects together.

This book has a limited run. The drawings contained within are engravings on paper. The intention is to put together sentences found in the street or in the restroom of a station with drawings made specifically. The result is a book with a surreal narrative, seems to be written by several people but it gets homogeneous due to the use of the design.

FUKT is a magazine for contemporary drawing. It comes without ads, beautifully designed with a focus on the visual, with occasional interviews with interesting artists and essays by engaging authors. The design and format are changing for each issue.

Björn Hegardt is the editor and Ariane Spanier is doing the design.

For more information about FUKT click here

Italian Conversations – Art in the age of Berlusconi is the result of an itinerant residency of the Dutch collective Fucking Good Art (Rob Hamelijnck and Nienke Terpsma) in Italy, who placed themselves as outsider observers of the complex Italian cultural scene in the current political and economical background. Starting from an investigation of the territory, through a travel and study experience, the volume provides a mapping of the current cultural Italian situation, at the same time positioning itself as an original critical research.

The cover and certain drawings are from Marco Raparelli.