Amy Franceschini and Mike Davis:
This is Not a Trojan Horse

A multi-faceted and socially engaged project, This is Not a Trojan Horse is a large, human-powered, wooden horse built in Abruzzo, Italy by Amy Franceschini, founder of the artists’ collective Future Farmers. Set in the Abruzzo region of Italy, the project encourages working Italian farmers to explain why they still embrace their chosen vocations. The large-scale, mobile architecture and interactive sculpture collected traces of rural practices: seeds, tools, interviews, recipes and products to enliven the imaginations of farmers and locals through discourse and artistic production. The project was designed as a vehicle for social and material exchange at a pivotal moment in the Abruzzo region, when modes of traditional agricultural production are being challenged by large-scale corporate farming trends as well as new sustainable directions. The Center for Art + Environment awarded its first Artists|Writers| Environments grant to artist Amy Franceschini and writer Michael Taussig for this project.