Luca Longhi

FOMO, 2021

Still from video (detail)

FOMO (fear of missing out) is the fear of being excluded from events, experiences, or gratifying social contexts; which can lead to a compulsive concern of missing an opportunity for social interaction. People can be consumed by an obsessive need to control what others are doing, and all the information we generate every day is partly to blame for this phenomenon.

Video HD, color, 0’15”

Interview

In our view, talking about perennial topicality means talking about our perception of time, history, and human interactions. As we considered this project a collective debate, we’d like to hear more about your ideas as well. What is your perception of perennial topicality? And which element of this idea do you think that the artwork that you presented wants to portray?

Perennial topicality is an event that is repeated cyclically over time and that is always present. Starting from this idea, I started looking for something around me that could represent this concept, and I found it in the myriad of data that we, human beings, produce every single day through social networks. I thought it was interesting to analyze this phenomenon that affects us all and is constantly developing, specifically the 24H project refers to instagram stories and their cyclical presence in our lives.

We are all the sum of our experiences, which shape our personality and perception. How did your personal history affect the creation of your artworks and in what way did you bring it into your project?

It’s true! all of us are the result of our experiences and choices. Each person has their own vision of the world, and it is thanks to this unique perception of what surrounds us that we are able to create art. Today, in my own way I wanted to represent a theme that concerns us all.  Using still life influenced by my training as a graphic designer, I tried to represent the concept of perennial topicality in this project called 24H.

Due to the centrality of technology as well as the redefinition of our personal space, in these pandemic times the intimacy and the lack of it are now not only lived but conceived differently. How would you describe your perception of intimacy, relationships, and connection today?

The pandemic has forced us to drastically change our emotions, thoughts and social relationships. If, on the one hand, we have been forced to maintain a social distance, on the other, we have found ourselves living in close contact with the people closest to us.  Forced cohabitation has strengthened relationships but in other cases some have felt deprived, even if only in part, of their intimacy; at the same time this has also allowed us to reflect and work on ourselves.

What do you expect from the audience’s experience after viewing your work in this digital environment? How do you think that our endless consumption of digital contents is affecting the production and the fruition of artworks? Do you think the virtual exhibition experience will continue to be a possible tool for presenting your research?

The excessive consumption of data and digital content is a central theme within my project, for sure this digitization has influenced many artists’ works.  We are always moving forward and I think it is right to follow the technological development. Already today we are starting to talk about NFT (Non-fungible token) a system able to give a uniqueness to something that would be potentially of infinite reproduction. I believe that this system will become fundamental for future artistic productions. I will certainly welcome future virtual exhibitions even if I still prefer the old physical exhibition.

Bio

Luca Longhi (born 1998, Cesena). He has been taking pictures for 10 years. He has a background in graphic design and advertising, followed by a three-year degree in photography at the Fondazione Studio Marangoni in Florence (ongoing). Even before calling himself a photographer, he considers himself a creative. Creating and sharing emotions is what interests him the most, so he chose photography as a means of communication and at the moment it is the one that best represents him. Over the years he has done various photographic works and participated in small exhibitions within artistic groups.