Back to the lamppost in Punta della Dogana, is the news that announced a few days ago the superintendent Renata Codello. Back to the lamp-post from March 2011, when the exhibition “Mapping the Studio,” staged by François Pinault, will close its doors. The lamp in the Punta della Dogana will then return to its place and the expense will be the sculpture “Boy with Frog” by Ray Charles, to which we must find another place. Since the sculpture was placed in the Punta della Dogana has almost been a popular uprising to restore the lone streetlight.
This street lamp, it is worth remembering, is not a work of art and is not even old, lying there only since 1987. For the return of the lamp at the Punta della Dogana there were appeals and interpellations, collecting signatures and debates. They spent tons of ink with the articles written about it in the newspapers. A Facebook group, for the return of the lamp, has more than 3000 members. At the news of the future restoration of the lamp there was a riot on blogs and headlines in the daily newspapers. All this leaves me baffled. I’m not writing this post to defend the “Boy with Frog” which, like all works of art can like it or not. And not to comment on the ungrateful are the Venetians in respect of François Pinault, who has restored the Dogana from his own pocket and will return the property of the city in less than 30 years. What amazes me is that this battle is done to get back to his place, at all costs, …. a lamppost. Yeah, I do not understand all this participation on the part of my fellow citizens when Venice would have so many other problems to solve before devoting himself body and soul to restore the streetlight. First of all depopulation, then the constant high water, vandalism becoming more frequent, without forgetting that soon closes the Libreria Mondadori and also the Dall’Era Marmi, just to mention some of the activities of the center. But I also remember the furnaces of Murano who are closing one by one, or the Porto Marghera, if dismantled, is likely to create 6,000 new unemployed. All under the eyes of all. Why are wasted so much energy to replace a lamppost and there he devoted himself rather to the real problems of Venice? Who started this crusade against the “Boy with Frog” if you asked this question? Back to the lamppost in Punta della Dogana, I should not wonder that in place we did a party with refreshments that day. By the way, the street lamp in the picture is not the original Punta della Dogana, but one similar to the dozens of those present in Venice. A street lamp, in fact.
Back in the Lamp Post Punta della Dogana
