Antonio Scarponi
Kollaborateur*in
If you would have to choose: Love play or fight?
Honestly? I would chose loveplayfight.
How do you protect yourself?
Condoms.
The hero of your youth?
Zorba the greek.
What was your last dream?
Umm, you do not want to know…
What do you learn primarly in theater?
I have learned the art of memory and that “true Theatre” is an oxymoron.
What do you unlearn primarly in theater?
I forgot!
Does reality deserve suspiciousness?
Only to the extend in which “suspiciousness” deserves reality.
How do you relate do plants, animals and algorithms?
Plants and animals no problem. But algorithms relate to me even if I do not want to.
Do you believe in the effectiveness of protest?
I believe that “yes” is the new “no”.
Are you for sale?
My time is. Not always thought.
What does a dog think?
What a dog of a life.
How do you place yourself in the face of boundaries?
By the right side. I am left handed, you know?
Do you have a demon?
I sell them. Do you need one?
Are the boundaries of perception diffuse?
If they are boundaries, how the hell could they be diffuse?
What controls you?
The algorithm, but which is also controlled by my subconscious.
Did reason ever disappoint you?
Always. They leave no space for fantasies. Is that a good reason?
Is a revolution necessary?
Another oxymoron?
Are you a) too soft b) too harsh c) too good for this world?
Muhammed Ali said: too fast too pretty.
What is time?
It is time. The right one.
What are you afraid of?
Boredom.
What are you devoted for?
Life. In all forms and desires.
What is it worth fighting for?
Desires. The deep ones thought. One has to chose what to fight for.
What is your favorite game?
Backgammon at the moment.
Neumarkt means… to you?
A cool place with cool people. AKA a lighthouse in the middle of the sea.
Your favorite word?
tattarrattat
What is your fight?
Love is play, which is my fight.
What illusion you like to indulge in?
Love. Definitely.
With whom to you like to talk the most?
To the ones are no longer here.
What would you ask death in private?
I ask them help, comprehension and patience.
For what are you proud for?
I am proud of some of the fights I have chose.
What do you want to do when you’re old?
Artists never are.
Is there a thinker that accompanies you at the moment?
Plato and Aristoteles. The more I move on, the more I go back to these guys.
Love or money?
Love.
Child or pet?
Child.
For what is it worth fighting for?
Anti-standard believes.
Your first theater experience?
Amarcord.
The worst lovesong ever?
Love me tender.
Your favourite curse word?
Porca Merda
If you would not work in a theater, you’d be…?
Everyone works in a theatre. Most people just never realised it.
Your most embarrassing moment on stage?
Not knowing what is next and who is who.
What is your most un-useful talent?
Enough oxymorons!
Why Neumarkt?
I guess because I worth it.
Who was the star you felt in love first?
Madonna, in “Like a Virgin”.
If you could own one piece of art, which one would you choose?
Too much trouble, I rather make some rather than own it.
In what do you believe?
I believe times has come.
What books is on your bedside table?
Last week I met a writer who developed a novel series of a librarian who does book therapy. After this dinner I went online and I bought 100.- of books. They are all by my bedside table.
In which idea you stay devoted to?
I am devoted to ideas, in general.
What was the best advice you were given?
To go to study architecture.
What was your weirdest dream?
What can be weird in a dream?
Who is your favourite actor / actress?
Bruno Ganz. Nice dude. I met him ones by chance. He was together with some friend of mine also met them by chance. He spoke rather well Italian. I asked: “have we met before”? He said: “I am not sure, but maybe you have seen some of my movies”! He then named a few and laughed nicely. He conquered my hart.
If you’d have a free flight ticket, where would you go?
Right now? In Sicily.
What was the best present that you got from someone or you gave to someone?
The best present I received was a scarf. But I mean “the scarf”. I ask myself: where have you been all my life. The best present I gave? A sun ring. I loved it.
What do you want the world to know about you?
I would be happy to inform “my world”. I do not want to bore the whole thing.
Uber or Taxi?
It depends.
Biography:
Antonio Scarponi is an architect, designer and educator who moved from the industry of buildings and making things, to the industry that changes these industries.
He is a “left-handed” architect: thinks like a designer, draws like an artist, dreams like a poet. someone said he is a “fantasta”.
Founder of the Zurich based practice conceptual devices, he studied architecture at Cooper Union, New York and at Iuav, Venice, from which he holds a phd in urban design.
He conceives design as a cultural tool for social engagement. his projects take the forms of narrations that engage local communities, industries, agencies.
In the past years, he has been active in the field of resilient urban strategies with a strong focus on urban agriculture. he designed several soilless urban agricultural projects at different scales of interventions from start-ups to the UN-world food system, to a book to show how to grow food with ikea parts (www.eliooo.com).
He taught and lectured in Europe, North America and Japanese universities. Currently, he teaches exhibition scenography at the master in art education and curatorial studies and interdisciplinary design at the the Zurich university of the arts.
He collaborated with several design magazines, including, Domus, Abitare, Wired, Architectural Design, amc. He received many prizes and awards including the “best of the swiss design 2017” and nomination for the swiss arts awards in 2018.
In 2008 he received the curry stone design prize, awarding social design pioneers.