As the title of the work itself suggests, 30 Swings consists of an installation of thirty swings situated at various points around the city of Polignano a Mare, Puglia: a ‘distributed’ work that permeates the area extensively and, like a network, weaves its way through the urban web to be enjoyed by everyone, from residents to passing tourists.

 The thirty swings, situated in different areas—in a square or overlooking the sea, in the narrow streets of the historic centre as well as in more residential areas—are all made of bronze and each bears an aphorism, a phrase or a short poem. Four of these quotations are adaptations of works by famous authors that Arena has rewritten and modified from the original texts; all the others are by writers, poets and philosophers invited by the artist and selected in collaboration with the “Il Libro possibile” festival. The work has a collective dimension, certainly in terms of accessibility as it is available to the community; it requires the community’s direct involvement to be activated, and makes the public the protagonist of the work itself. This approach is, however, also intrinsic to the very genesis of the work, which takes shape precisely thanks to the textual contributions of the authors invited to collaborate.