Vuoto a perdere

From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Italy experienced a period of profound social, cultural, and political change. A cycle of collective struggles and strong ideologies came to an end, and individualism and disillusionment with politics spread. Meanwhile, neoliberalism advanced on the international stage and ultimately influenced the Italian context as well. In the cultural sphere, grand narratives gave way to fragmented, visceral, and less ideological forms of expression. It was in this climate that new forms of grassroots communication emerged, such as the fanzine “Vuoto a Perdere”. This fanzine would be at the center of a movement that led to the occupation of the CSOA Forte Prenestino in Rome. The journey began with the establishment of the Adesso Basta Cultural Association, which was committed to reclaiming public and green spaces and, in particular, returning Forte Prenestino to the neighborhood. Meanwhile, unemployment, illegal work, and workplace deaths resulted in the creation of the first Festa del Non Lavoro (Festival of Non-Work) on May 1, 1983. Urban subcultures, such as punk and skinhead, and traditions of the extra-parliamentary left mixed in this context, generating a new aesthetic and political practice made up of contamination, anger, irony, and creativity. Vuoto a Perdere started as a local fanzine with the ambition of becoming a political, communicative, and cultural tool. Its purpose was twofold: to challenge mainstream information and to give voice to emerging youth subjectivities. Inspired by punk and underground fanzines such as TVOR and Punkaminazione, the visual language featured collages, hand lettering, and provocative images. The DIY (do-it-yourself) principle, a hallmark of the punk movement, guided every aspect of the project in opposition to official and institutional communication. 

In this context, graphics became an autonomous language that conveys messages, constructs identities, and creates alternative narratives. The dominant color is no longer the "red" of the 1970s movements, but rather the green of the "Marzianotto,” an alien designed by Gigi Coccia. This symbolic and provocative mascot appears on posters, flyers, and pages of the fanzine. 

The fanzine is produced collectively and collaboratively by prisoners, cartoonists, activists, unemployed young people, feminists, drug addicts, gay people, punks, and skinheads. This diverse group of individuals does not have a horizontal relationship. The pages serve as a space for daily resistance and self-narration, challenging the imagery imposed by state media. 

Initially appearing in the classic fanzine format, Vuoto a Perdere later evolves into a leaflet that, when opened, becomes a 70x100 poster. 

More than a mere physical object, the enlarged poster emerged as a symbolic amplifier of dissent — interrupting the flow of demonstrations and drawing the gaze of the mass media.

Initially lacking structured content, the fanzine evolved into a visual and political platform inspired by punk aesthetics, incorporating collages, cut-ups, and popular language. Graphic techniques such as photocopying, cutting and pasting, and handwriting became tools of disruption and criticism, capable of representing the social and cultural fragmentation of that time. Vuoto a Perdere became a traveling community, appearing in Voghera against the special prison, in Hanover for Chaos Day—where punks and redskins found themselves facing the police together for a day—in Montagnano at the Festival dei Pazzi, and in southern Italy to organize a conference on "Communication in Motion." The path leading to the occupation of the CSOA Forte Prenestino in 1986 developed within a climate of intense cultural and communicative experimentation. 

The practices and languages introduced by the publication help define a shared imagination and create informal networks of active subjectivities that influence urban and cultural spaces. Once occupied, the Forte established itself as a center of independent production and a space open to the intersection of visual arts, political communication, and social practices. Figures such as Cristiano Rea, one of the protagonists of the social center's graphic scene, helped build a coherent and recognizable visual identity. They transformed communication into a tool for relationships, political expression, and gathering. Communication became "action," and graphics became a means of the collective construction of meaning. Coccia's Martian, with his ironic and alien presence, unifies a fragmented and rebellious community under an alternative, shared imaginary that cannot be reduced to institutional norms. Overall, Vuoto a Perdere is more than just a fanzine; it is a cultural and political project that transcends language and activism by intertwining the creativity of the punk movement with social analysis and experimentation.

Bibliography

• Fortopìa – Storie d’amore e d’autogestione. Ed. Fortepressa, Roma 2016.
• Resistenze innaturali, Beppe De Sario. Agenzia X, Milano 2009.