THE ANXIETY PARASITES | LORENZO LUNGHI

Inside a dark and uncomfortable service tunnel, where the protagonists are unprotected electricity cables, conduits and exposed pipes, the emergency exit indicators should serve as ‘rescue anchors’ to ensure the passage.
The site-specific installation, The Anxiety Parasites, designed by Lorenzo Lunghi for the exhibition spaces of NAM-Not a Museum in Florence, sabotages the normal functionality of these indicators and transports the visitor into the treacherous terrain of their own anxieties and insecurities.

The green signal that represents a human figure walking towards the direction of the exit, is transformed into a sort of monster-cyborg: transparent plexiglass tentacles with a series of metal prostheses take various directions and seem to come alive in order to approach the visitor, as if they would like to hold him close and throw him into another dimension. These sculptures with alien features completely transfigure the device and its functionality and, at the same time, constitute an invitation to reflect on the limit between perversion and anxiety, on how a ‘hacked’ object can confront us with daily and unconscious fears.

The anxiety parasites are therefore parasites of thought, which, hiding in the shadow of the NAM tunnels, cling to the observer and increase their fear and insecurity of being in these dark places. Lorenzo Lunghi, always playing with a creative process that pushes towards the generation of errors and distortions of the normal functionality of everyday objects, builds unexpected narratives where combinations of materials of various origins, almost a cyber punk collage, give life to unknown and disturbing creatures. The illuminated sign is manipulated, corrupted and distorted. The luminous parasites that result from this operation lurk on the walls and above the doors. By transforming what should be a tool to contain anxiety they obtain exactly its opposite: multiplying the state of uncertainty and restlessness, these sculptures shed light on the degree of discomfort that guides our relating and living in a space.

The Anxiety Parasite is part of the group exhibition ADESSO NO_ curated by Bruno Barsanti and Gabriele Tosi inside the spaces of NAM – Not a Museum within Manifattura Tabacchi in Florence, open until 11 June 2022.

Lorenzo Lunghi
The Anxiety Parasite, 2021-2022
Pexiglass, silicone, breadboard, wire jumpers, green led diode, variable dimension.
Exhibition view at ADESSO NO_, images courtesy the artist and NAM. Ph. Carlo Favero

01/06/2022