Project Description can be read here.

FUTURE IMPERFECT

Continued:

The current government has been in place for years now, at some point we stopped having elections and the parliament didn’t elect new officials anymore. There should have been an outcry, but the public didn’t seem to care. The news stations and papers all supported it, but then… the government owns all of them. Maybe we grew complacent from the constant barrage of television drivel and consumerism.

So, things have changed now, Rome has changed again. The control and efficiency of an unchallenged, singular government expanded and created a new movement of urban expansion they said exemplified the new government. Huge, grey monolithic buildings were erected in around the city, especially around the southeast corner of the presidential palace near the Ministry of Defense. We don’t know what’s in them. They say some might be prisons, or military bases, or even completely empty shells. Other of these monoliths, the government has been taking control of more and more buildings throughout the city. There are so many black spots on the map now that if feels like someone with a gun is always watching you from a door or window. But you never see them, I don’t even know if there’s anyone in them. It’s almost as if you’re surrounded by prison walls.

In line with the government’s reliance on the media, many of the monoliths are projected onto with video. They used to broadcast government proceedings, but all those channels say “segnale perso,” signal lost. They haven’t changed for months. Some buildings have architectural facades projected on them; they say it allows the buildings to become appropriate for the current context, which always changes with the moment. It’s like there’s nothing reliable or steady anymore.

But lately I’ve been noticing some unusual things happening.

Posters have started appearing, bearing a symbol I don’t recognize. It’s not from the government, maybe something is finally stirring in the people. The old church near the Four Fountains.. it was boarded up when this all started, but someone has opened it up once again. I don’t know what’s happening inside, but I’m sure I saw someone slip in one day. The old palazzo that was an art museum at one point has its lights back on as well, though it’s been closed for years. There’s signs of something else happening in the piazza created by the destruction of older buildings across the street as well. Occasionally, a small group will gather on the edge. It’s rare you see human interaction anymore, but still, it’s always only a few.

The air does feel different lately, as though something is about to happen.. what’s stirring in the gray streets of this city?