The project Il lanternista (The Magic Lantern Man) explores the expressive possibilities of the Magic Lantern device. The installation consists of a series of lanterns and contributions from over 40 artists who were asked to reflect on and develop a brand new work on the iconographic theme of the "triumph of death", with reference to the one of the most famous examples of this representation: The Triumph of Death in Palermo. The comparison with the fresco is the pretext to reflect critically on the current attitude of removing death in the contemporary culture through a dialogue with an aesthetic and cultural vision of the past. The debate with the history concerns additionally the choice of using the Magic Lantern as a medium, which reflects the will to reactivate a tradition that otherwise will be condemned to the museification. At the same time, thanks to its technical and aesthetic peculiarities, the Magic Lantern stimulates a reflection on the current processes that regulate the production of our visual imagery.

For this performance, we designed and produced an object with various function. The first is to be a support tool for the performance, a base on which to place the lantern that also contains the series of slides necessary for the performance. It also has a lightbox-type set-up system that allows the slides to be viewed both during the performance and in a possible exhibition. It has four linear wheels to calibrate the projection and be able to move it very easily. Another function is that of a container, meaning that all the elements that make up the base can be disassembled and reassembled becoming a container in which to place the lantern and all the material necessary for the performance; the base is in fact also the container for what is being exhibited. It is made of wood panels, often used for the construction of elements for the performance, e.g. stages, platforms, a very solid marine plywood covered with a brown non-slip protective layer. The object is made entirely of wood, opaque and dark in colour so that it disappears during the performance and it is made with simple, almost archaic joints to enhance the lantern, its sophisticated mechanisms and its materiality.