Rolando Politi

Born in  WWII in Italy, as a young man Rolando Politi divided his time between Italy and Germany where he was active in the squatter movements. In the early 1980s he made his way to the Lower East Side where he immediately became involved in organizing the takeover and restoration of many abandoned buildings;  his activism in the self help process supplied him with construction and repair skills, and the experience molded his art form.

At the turn of the millennium he organized the artist collective Trash Worship which staged performance meditation on the ubiquitousness ofgarbage. The collective took a spiritual approach to its activism, creatijng rituals, songs and even a prayerbook. Of his artistic exploits with garbage Rolando says, [squatting] really helped me in the trash art or the waste art because it went hand in hand.  So with my experience rebuilding houses, I turned it into the creativity making art pieces