The structure is not intended to be just admired, but it invites people to come in, walk, sit and play on it.

The Turin-based illustrator Guerrilla Spam began in Firenz in 2010 and has since travelled to do large scale murals and posters and installations across Italy and into places like Bruxelles, Bristol and Berlin. They like to refer to their work as “a spontaneous, unauthorized form of resistance and protest in urban spaces” – which reminds you of the rebellious ethos of graffiti writers blended with the consciousness of designers and activists eager to evolve society forward. In this case, topics range from education, the penal system, and immigration, among others.

For this “usable monument” in Santa Croce di Magliano, Guerilla Spam is aiming to share people’s  history, specifically the uprising of those here who fought to claim their land in 1955.

“The day laborers of Santa Croce di Magliano,” says Guerilla Spam, “supported by the women (who lined up in front of the police), by trade unionists and communist leaders, succeeded in obtaining the reallocation of the land. The memory of this event is imprinted in the writings, drawings, and colors of the monument (the colors remind of the ones of the countryside).”

Bright and optically entertaining, the game is welcoming and accessible, bringing with it the possibility of edification through education. Unusual for unsanctioned public art, normal for those who seize public space for free speech. “Even a passer-by can undertake this path,” says Guerilla Spam, “which looks like a game, but is actually a march towards the awareness of man’s rights”

238

138

45