Autography

https://autography.operaduomo.firenze.it/

Autography transform the acts of vandalism in the “real” – analogical – world into a digital testimony and keepsake. The “made in Autography“ graffiti will never face removal, but they will be part of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore’s digital archive.

To leave a mark on monuments is an antisocial and childish behaviour, while the will of leaving a mark, a keepsake is just part of the human nature: the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore allows the visitors to leave that mark, of course not on monuments or artworks but in the world of virtuality, on a digital surface.

With Autography we have something completely new: there is no damage for the monument, but the graffiti are safe as well, gaining a virtual immortality. With Autography the protection of monuments and the sharing of feelings are possible at the same time, in a win – win situation.

Autography, an idea by Alice Filipponi, is the first media tool against graffiti which promotes the graffiti as well, yet in a digital dimension. Autography: How it works The Autography App is loaded on tablets available within the Campanile di Giotto and Brunelleschi’s Dome. Autography allows the visitors to create digital graffiti choosing between different tools (pen, marker, paintbrush, spray and pencil), colours and virtual surfaces.

The visitors’ need and will to “leave a mark” is not repressed, but relocated into the virtual dimension of the digital world, in the good company of the huge heritage of the Opera del Duomo’s historical archive.

Every graffiti will be approved and published except those that contain insults, unauthorized material or judged inappropriate.