Italian Mockery Performance Piece

Michael Svizzero

Family Photo to Start With:

In this photo, my great grandfather stands with my grandfather, and two great uncles. When trying to think of an “injustice” I can think of for this photo, I had a hard time at first. To me, the men in my family have all been privileged, straight white men. However, with no obvious “injustice” I decided to approach the picture trying to think of any struggles that my great grandfather might have gone through. From there, I decided I wanted to research more into his immigration and Italian immigration in general. What seemed to be another surface idea that would get me know where, surprised me due to the fact that I had never really known the difficulties my Italian roots went through as Italian immigrants. With research into the topic, I learned a lot about the difficult voyage as well as the prejudices americans had towards Italians. Furthermore, I learned that during the time my great grandfather came (The Great Immigration), Italian workers were refused jobs and therefore livings just based off of their nationality. Due to the stereotypical image of all Italians are mobsters, people were scared of Italian immigrants as well as looked down on them and their culture. In addition Sicilians (My mother’s side happens to be Sicilian) were treated and regarded as black due to their tan skin completion. Following through my research, I looked into the portrayal of Italians in Hollywood. I learned that over the years since the Godfather (an iconic movie that portrays Italians as mob bosses), there have been over 3000 more movies, all duplicating Italians as criminals.

Project

For my project I decided to take a double breasted blazer (what Italians are typical pictured to be wearing often and just so happens my great grandfather is also wearing one in my photo) and turn it into a mockery of what the Italian stereotype is. On the collar, in the same font that the movie that helped encourage this criminal reputation used (The Godfather), I wrote my family in Italian. I chose this phrase for two contrasting reasons. One because family is extremely important in Italian homes and you always stick with blood, but also because that is what mobs typically call other people in their mob. I also in the back decided to add the hand that is noticeably from The Godfather.

Progress

Final Piece

 

Performance Piece

For my performance piece I wanted to give into this stereotype by dressing up in what Italians are know to style themselves in. Topped with the blazer I made, I am wearing black tuxedo shoes, black wide legged, high waisted dress pants and a black tank top. I also accessorized it with a silver chain and bracelet (another imagery often associated with the Italian Mob) slicked back hair, a cigarette since the phrase “Italian lungs” is a thing. To top it off, I went tanning to give me the Mediterranean glow that Italians and especially Sicilians are known for.

Photos

For my photos, I wanted to show me wearing my performance piece outfit while editing them to be black in white in homage to the film that inspired this project. Other than that I wanted to keep the photo simple with minimal editing as well as settings.