RA x SlamJam x ARTIFACT x Sprint - Hardcore Soul

I pitched this project as a concept idea for collaboration to SlamJam in 2019. They liked it so much that the result was a month-long photography exhibition and installation which was hosted in partnership with Sprint at their Milan based gallery space (ARTIFACT). We co-hosted and curated the launch event, which included an installation, blown up photography, live music and an interview with Gabber Eleganza and lauded Photographer Ewan Spencer. We also previewed the book with a photo feature on RA. https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/3464 http://spaziomaiocchi.com/artifact-sprint-present-hardcore-soul/ HARDCORE SOUL book is the confluence of UK photographer Ewen Spencer, the dynamic project conceived by the artist/dj Alberto Guerrini (aka Gabber Eleganza) and the contribution of the Turner Prize artist Mark Leckey. The book is assembled and composed by two volumes, including a special edition of cardboards and Gabber Eleganza’s Hardcore Soul Mixtape, to create a seamless flow with what was the Happy Hardcore Rave scene and the British Northern Soul weekenders. A tool to read existing aesthetics and socio-cultural realities, subtracted by their rhetorics and nostalgia and elevated through their fusion instead. This book makes you want to turn up the volume and dance, no matter how old you are or where you are from. Artifact, the new permanent display for ideas, located onto the sidewalk of Spazio Maiocchi, a cross-disciplinary aggregator co-funded by Carhartt WIP and Slam Jam, will be activate through a selection of Spencer’s photographs, Gabber Eleganza’s videos/ephemeral and a mixtape’s sonic limbo for a “never-ending euphoria”, in order to dialogue with Artifact’s modular steel grids designed by Berlin-based architecture firm Gonzalez—Haase, and the peculiar space zinc coated. During the opening RA Exchange – a series of conversations with artists, labels and promoters shaping the electronic music landscape – will be the chance to amplify stories and legacy in a conversation between Ewen Spencer and Alberto Guerrini, moderated by Aaron Coultate and introduced by Dafne Boggeri.