From June 4 to July 19, 2009 the Island of San Servolo hosts IL CAOS an exhibition project promoted by San Servolo Servizi, in collaboration with the Venetian Province. It will take place over the course of three years with three shows that will deal with themes central to life in our society today: work, immigration, and conflict.

The concept is to document ethical and social engagement expressed in contemporary art with a specific focus on photography, video, and new media.
 
This trilogy of themes takes its name from a column written between August 6, 1968 and January 24, 1970 by Pier Paolo Pasolini for the weekly publication “Tempo”, a continuation of his previous column “Dialogues with Pasolini”, which the writer and director produced for the newspaper Vie Nuove. This was a fundamental and complex moment in the life of Pasolini, as well as in Italian society. With new developments in capitalism and the trauma of 1968 a profound national crisis arose, one that Pasolini took on in his work with deep reflection and illumination. Like the events that shape it, our world today is very different. There do exist, however, many similarities and comparable conflicts that make us return to Pasolini’s lucid and courageous explanations of human nature.
 
In recent years it has often been noted how much art has changed our own approach to the world. It has chosen to take on issues related to our comprehension of reality as well as the denouncement of society’s most complex and contradictory aspects, often preferring to focus on ethics rather than aesthetics. The trilogy IL CAOS acts as witness to this current state of art by explicitly confronting socio-ethical themes and situations through the work of artists who are making significant interventions in the field.
 
By considering their images, one can understand how much nature, typology, work and workers have changed in our society. One can perceive the sense of estrangement and distancing created between media images and the reality of labor in our country and throughout the world. One can reflect on working conditions and how we understand this issue today.
 
The first part of the trilogy includes work by 8 Italian artists: Marco Bonafè (Palermo 1981); Gea Casolaro (Rome, 1965); Donatella Di Cicco (Naples, 1971); Danilo Donzelli (Naples, 1975); Sandro Mele (Melendugno – Lecce?, 1970); Alice Schivardi (Erba – Como, 1976); Giuseppe Stampone (Clues - F, 1972); Enrico Vezzi (San Miniato - Pisa, 1979).
 
A portion of a documentary filmed by some temporary employees of Alitalia will also be exhibited. “Tutti giù per aria”, (directed by Francesco Cordio, written by the Cultural Association “Cogito…” together with Alessandro Tartaglia Polcini and Matteo Messina) seeks to be a window open to reality, as well as a point of reference for understanding all the artists’ work.
 
Together with the exhibition, a discussion group on Facebook will be opened, entitled “Uncertainty and Necessity/L’incertezza e la necessita’”. It will be administered by Chiara Nicolini, used partially for the exhibition catalogue, and will give direct access to the exhibition as well as other documents from the exhibition’s multimedia area dedicated to the theme of “work.” The discussion group will remain open throughout the run of the show and it will also be possible for visitors to participate from within the exhibition space.