a study of invisible skeletons in future ideas is a research started in 2009, inspired by a chemistry story told me by Alessandra and by the words of Bruno Munari:

the artistic world, the world of creativity and of imagination has always kept hidden; you never have to reveal how an idea was born or how you design an artwork. (…) I do think, instead, that people wish to understand and for this reason I prepare myself to explain, with the hope that others after me will pursue this study, for a better development of creativity and personality.

This study is an attempt at carrying on some of the instances outlined by the Italian designer, while distancing from the idea that such research might actually explains the way in which artists design (if this term might be used) an artwork.
The skeletons of the title refer to the series of structures, mainly borrowed from game design, creative writing, magic, advertising, neuro linguistic programming, render softwares, infographics and Munari’s practice that I tried to project into contemporary artworks. They are invisible in the sense that they might be detected but at the same time they have never been consistently discussed.
The future ideas stand for all the potential ideas that a reader might conceive by using the skeletons displayed on this website.

The main goals of the research are:
I. to offer a wide spectrum of playful techniques that might be used to generate and reframe objects, actions, problems, thoughts and gifts.
II. to give a creativity-based perspective on contemporary art.
III. to honor and loosely identify an art-making movement founded on simplicity and a group of artworks that might be enjoyed by telling a short story.
IV. an open invitation to look critically and creatively at reality.

The perspective on the works is clearly and deliberately limited. This spawns from the need of isolating and highlighting the skeletons. However, a more complete outlook about the artworks, the artists and the historical periods might be obtained by clicking on the links under each picture.

Mar del Plata, 1941

Essential sitography:

dataphys
italian area
pietmondriaan
radical art
VVORK
whoworeitbetter

Essential bibliography:

Bandler, R. and Grinder, J. (1975), The Structure of Magic I: A Book about Language and Therapy, Science & Behavior Books
Barry, P. (2008), The Advertising Concept Book: Think Now, Design Later, Thames and Hudson Ltd
Berger, J. (1972), Ways of Seeing, Penguin Books
Bogost, I. (2016), Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games, Basic Books
Borges, J.L. (1997), Finzioni, Adelphi (originally published 1941)
Brotchie, A and Gooding, M.(1992), A Book of Surrealist Games, Shambhala
Collins, T. (2014), 100 Ways to Create a Great Ad, Laurence King Publishing
Dunne, A. and Raby, F. (2013), Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming, The MIT Press
Eco, U. (1992), Il secondo diario minimo, Bompiani
Eco, U. (1977), How to Write a Thesis, The MIT Press
Filipovic, E. (2016), The Apparently Marginal Activities of Marcel Duchamp, The MIT Press
Glenn, J. and Walker, R. (2012), Significant Objects, Fantagraphics Books
Goldsmith, K. (2011), Uncreative Writing: Managing Language in the Digital Age, Columbia University Press
Hugill, A. (2015), Pataphysics: A Useless Guide, The MIT Press
Lessig, L. (2008), Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, Bloomsbury Publishing
Munari, B. (1977), Fantasia. Invenzione, creatività e immaginazione nelle comunicazioni visive, Laterza
Osborne, P. (2011), Conceptual Art, PHAIDON
Perra, Parrio, D. (2010), Low Cost Design, Silvana Editoriale
Pera, R. (2005), Intuizione creativa e generazione di nuove idee, UTET
Rodari, G. (1973), Grammatica della Fantasia, Introduzione all'arte di inventare storie, Einaudi
Salen, K. and Zimmeran, E. (2005), The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology, The MIT Press
Suits, B. (1978), The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia, Broadview Press
Zehme, B. (1999), Lost in the Funhouse: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman, Delacorte Press