Often have I met the ill of living:
it was the choked stream that gurgles,
it was the shriveling of a leaf,
parched, it was the horse, crashed.
Good I have not known, outside the miracle
which discloses divine’s Indifference:
it was the statue in the somnolence
of noon, and the cloud, and the lofty hawk.
– Eugenio Montale
Lorenzo Lunghi presents an installation composed of various sculptures that are directly placed on the ground and another that descends from the ceiling, recalling the function and shape of a chandelier.
The composition of the sculptures on the floor, which the artist considers as a self-portrait, evokes the scenario of the discovery of a skeleton. This tells of a dark, intimate and visceral side of the human psyche: the feeling of being stripped down to one's fragile carcass. A sensation that is a symptom of a sum of anxieties generated by our alienated capitalist society. A body that has been burned by the neoliberal engine that is continuously accelerating. What remains are bones and a worn out "I", like cuttlefish bones stranded on a beach.
The light of the chandelier descends from the ceiling is potentially dangerous for the skin and the eyes of beings if switched on. This light will be visible only for 15 minutes every night from the street and will purify the interior space of the Kunsthalle. It is a light source that emits UVC rays, developed to sterilize places, killing bacteria and viruses. It devours and neutralizes what is next to it. The design of the lamp is reminiscent of the shape of a drone and contrasts with the architecture of the space, appearing as a kind of infrastructural parasite. This work entitled 15 minutes of invisible light underlines the aspect of the greed of the consumer who is perhaps a victim of the system itself. Their eyes are accustomed to digesting a vast quantity of images in a few seconds and impatiently crave more.
Lunghi through his work shows us his point of view on the human condition and the paradox of the neoliberal system. It is an affliction of living that feels like a choked stream that gurgles.
Translation: Plattform team
Photo credits: Guadalupe Ruiz