MACHAS

“Dry Days, Tropical Nights”: Agostino Iacurci’s immersive exhibition unveiled in Milan

From the exterior facade to its raw interior, Iacurci signs an impressive art intervention on the soon-to-be-demolished tower in Largo Treves, Milan.

“Dry Days - Tropical Nights’’ is a site-specific project that transformed the architecture of the iconic building designed by Arrigo Arrighetti inside and out. From the striking and enigmatic pattern of the facade to the impressive inner landscape of neon trees and cacti, Iacurci’s intervention is an enchanting multi-sensorial experience that underlines an ominous message.

The installation borrows its name from two environmental indicators outlined in the book Journey Through Italy in the Anthropocene, in which philosopher and evolutionist Telmo Pievani and geographer Mauro Varotto imagine Italy in the year 2786. According to these indicators, within a few hundred years, the Po Valley and Italy will turn into a small piece of land with tropical weather.

“The project is imagined as a hallucination that dialogues with the architecture of the iconic building designed by Arrigo Arrighetti in the heart of Milan, transforming it into a sort of oasis that is both a sparkling mirage and a disturbing omen of a near future, “said Iacurci. “I wanted it to be a Las Vegas scenario with all these shiny, attractive lights, but there’s a dark feeling underneath,” he says. “I wanted it to be seductive, but at the same time, haunting. There’s a subtle dark element.”

The project, which included a soundscape designed by Lechuga Zafiro, enthralled the Guests with an immersive experience that heightened the duality of the message: an explosion of bright colours whose cheerfulness contrasts sharply with the urgency of the theme addressed.

“I had the idea of creating a sculpture with iron and LED tubes,” Iacurci explains. “Even though the building is gigantic, it is quite unique in its interiors: beautiful sky windows, and tall columns which made me think of a palm forest… Cities are evolving, landscapes are evolving. I was thinking, ‘How would Milan look in 1000 years?’”

“Dry Days - Tropical Nights” received a Fuorisalone Award, which selects and promotes the most memorable installations.

Find more of Iacurci’s work here.