During 2008 Italian national elections – 16th of March to 10th of April – IOCOSE sent thousands of spam emails in support of the “Partito Democratico” (Italian Democratic Party).
Hundreds of hate emails were suddenly sent back, full of offences and insults against Walter Veltroni, the party leader.
The reaction demonstrated that the idea of a political party sending spam is absolutely realistic for most of the electors and consistent with the political propaganda.
The target was the Democratic Party, but it was just the last case in a long list of possible victims. The “post-ideological” parties, that pretend to “agree with the feelings of the society” (that is, to obey to the opinion polls), are based on the same logic of spamming. Touching the most trivial desires of the electors in order to catch a vote is not too different than promising a penis enlargement for a click.
IOCOSE claims this artistic, political and annoying action. Electoral spamming is a new space where Viagra pills and the national anthem “downloadable to your cell phone” mix together. A controversial and paradoxical ground for mocking a mass audience.
On www.partitodemocratico2008.org all the spam emails are available (Italian only), ready to be sent to your friends, with a special page dedicated to a selection of the best responses we have received to date.
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS:
2008
- Milano in Digitale III, Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan – Italy
- Tutto quello che diciamo è falso, Betty&Books, Bologna – Italy
CRITICAL READINGS
- May 2010, Caleidoscopio.net, Interview (Spanish)
- 4th April 2010, Digicult, A surreal doubt (English, Italian)
