LOVELY-RATZ

Bio
Linda Pietrobelli (2001) and Ambra Zamengo (2002) are currently pursuing their Bachelor's degree in Multimedia Arts at IUAV University of Venice. In 2023, they formed the collective “LOVELY-RATZ”, born from the desire to work together, engaging with the dimension of “the other” and considering it as necessary for the development of thought.

Statement
By combining performance and photography in the analysis of human dynamics—with a particular focus on interpersonal relationships and social roles—their artistic research seeks to privilege queer and transfeminist perspectives, placing people at the center of both the artistic project and the work itself. They intertwine aesthetics and conceptual inquiry to create spaces for dialogue and reflection, fostering empathetic connections.
Their artistic practice builds visual and theoretical connections through performative practices and bodily gestures: through these, they explore how the body interacts with its surrounding space, reinterpreting and shaping the environment through itself and its own perception.
In the pursuit of a pre-practical emotional dialogue, their interest lies in understanding relational dynamics through a psychological and anthropological approach, which allows them to explore and communicate the complexities of places, individuals, and communities. From this arises their interest in connecting territory, nature, and people through expressive means such as photography, performance, and other artistic media.

I <3 Porto Vecchio

poster
2024

“THE FUTURE IS PORTO VECCHIO” / “porto vecchio mi manchi”
poster 100 x 70

The two posters were born from the dialogue between street art and the concept of mitteleuropa, creating a link between Brussels and Porto Vecchio (the Old Port) of Trieste.
In Brussels, near the European Parliament, we found the graffiti statement “THE FUTURE IS EUROPE,” commissioned by a real estate company. In response, we created the phrase “THE FUTURE IS PORTO VECCHIO,” a performative act aimed at challenging the imposed narrative and creating a symbolic connection between the two cities.
While commissioned graffiti follows an institutional type of communication, the other side of street art — such as tags and spontaneous messages — offers a less constrained, freer form of storytelling capable of expressing both individual and collective identities.
The poster “porto vecchio mi manchi” (“Porto Vecchio, I miss you”) expresses a shared feeling of nostalgia and presents a direct contrast: while Brussels is full of graffiti that delineates a lived urban identity, Porto Vecchio is instead an abandoned place, lacking such visual expression. Here, the “non-place” manifests as an absence of identity, waiting to be filled with new meanings.
Finally, an additional connection between Porto Vecchio and Brussels is represented by the stars, found in the architecture of Porto Vecchio’s Monumental Gate, in the logo of the Belgian beer Stella Artois, and in the European Union flag. This formal analogy overlays cultural symbols and explores the perception of belonging to a transnational European space.
The posters are featured in the publication “POP”, which collects the outcomes of the project “POP Adriatico - Porto Osservatorio Partecipato”.