Inauguration of the exhibition Stefano Spinelli. Transcriptions. The Medium is the Message

The USI and SUPSI Libraries, to mark the renovation of the BiblioAgorà spaces, are pleased to invite all interested parties to the inauguration of the photographic exhibition: Stefano Spinelli Transcriptions The Medium is the Message, to be held on Thursday, 23 November 2023, at 5:30 pm at the East Campus Lugano.

Speakers will be

• Representatives of the USI and SUPSI Libraries
• Stefano Spinelli, photographer
• Vega Tescari, Università della Svizzera italiana 

BiblioAgorà is a place of study and encounter on the East Campus. It ideally unites Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). 
In 2023, the space was renovated to encourage group work and collaboration, serving as a complement to the libraries of both establishments.

The encounter and cooperation of different languages are a common theme in the first exhibition presented at BiblioAgorà, called "Stefano Spinelli. Transcriptions - The Medium is the Message."
In this exhibit, photographer Stefano Spinelli showcases eight large-format prints titled after classic dystopian science fiction books and the 1964 essay "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man" by Canadian sociologist Marshall McLuhan. The prints transport us to a technological unconsciousness, a non-place created by servers, cables, and fans. Upon closer inspection, the images reveal hidden watermarked texts, which are entire works of non-fiction or literature discussing the criticality, risks, opportunities, and horizons that information technologies bring us.

Stefano Spinelli
Stefano Spinelli is a photographer and fine art printer with a diploma in photography and a degree in sociology. He has an impressive portfolio of around thirty exhibitions in museums and galleries in Switzerland and Italy. His latest exhibition, "Se nel folto del bosco" was held at Casa Pessina in Ligornetto in 2023. 

Since his teenage years, he has been fascinated by the flexibility of photography in reproducing reality, from an illusory objectivity to the most verisimilar manipulation. Although he does not disdain the first extreme, he is more attracted by the latter. Over the years, his activity has unravelled between these two poles, keeping as a constant the research on the language of photography and the exploration of its boundaries. 

The exhibition is open Monday to Friday, 08am - 10pm, until 28 March 2024.

Free admission (visitors from outside USI/SUPSI are requested to book visits with the University Library Lugano, [email protected], 058 666 4500).

A catalogue will be published and will be available for purchase since the opening.