Gruppo OB
| Founded | 1969 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Giuseppe Becca · Giacomo A. Graziani · Roberto Origgi |
| Headquarters | Milano, Italia |
| Services | Videoart · Design · Museum installations |
Gruppo OB was an interdisciplinary collective from Milan that was active between 1969 and the second half of the 1970s. The group combined artistic research, audiovisual experimentation, and industrial design, anticipating the interactive use of portable television in museums in Italy and developing a proprietary technique for transferring images onto stainless steel panels.[1]
History
The core was formed in 1968 during the collaboration with the Centro Attività Visive Ferrania; the founding act dates back to the following year. In 1970, the collective obtained the first patent relating to the treatment of AISI 304 stainless steel and began to collaborate with the Centro Inox and with the architect Gio Ponti.[2]
Artistic activities
- Schifanoia-TV: mezzo aperto / opera chiusa (Ferrara, Palazzo dei Diamanti, 7–16 aprile 1972) – closed-circuit installation that investigated the user/television image relationship inside the museum.[3]
- Percorso. Intervento di destrutturazione e ristrutturazione creativa di uno spazio architettonico (Pavia, Collegio Cairoli, 28 gennaio–3 febbraio 1974) – recomposition of architectural elements taken on site to highlight the phenomenological process of perception.[2]
Design projects
Between 1970 and 1974, the group produced oxidized and satin-finished steel cladding for public spaces (Saronno Theatre, Castolin headquarters in Lausanne) and developed the "Diagon" modular joint for exhibition structures. Some prototypes were sold to the company Ceramiche Cava, which took care of mass production.[3]
Members
- Giuseppe Becca – painting teacher at the Brera Academy, responsible for the graphics area.
- Giacomo A. Graziani – architect, group theoretician, speaker at conferences on media and urban planning.
- Roberto Origgi – painter; he experimented with the transfer of images onto stainless steel until 1973, the year of his separation from the collective.
Reception
The Schifanoia-TV project is cited as one of the "beginnings of video art in Italy" by scholars Cosetta Saba and Lisa Parolo.[1] Pierre Restany dedicated an article to the experience in Domus n. 542 (January 1975).[4] Other critical contributions were signed by Pier Aldo Rovatti (catalogues 1972, 1973) and Giulio Carlo Argan (meetings 1974-75).
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cosetta Saba; Lisa Parolo (2019). "Cominciamenti della video arte in Italia (1968-1971)". Sciami (in italiano). Retrieved 29 May 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Percorso – intervento di destrutturazione creativa di uno spazio architettonico" (in italiano). Università di Pavia – Archivio Digitale. 1974. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gruppo OB (1972). Schifanoia-TV: mezzo aperto/opera chiusa (in italiano). Ferrara. Search this book on
- ↑ Pierre Restany (January 1975). "Articolo su Gruppo OB". Domus (542).
This article "Gruppo OB" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Gruppo OB. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
