Pleasure Island
by Federico Arcangeli

portfolio winners call 'ABOUT DESIRE. WITH RAGUSA FOTO FESTIVAL 2020', 2020

A journey into the land of desires. Rimini is a town on the Adriatic coast, on the Italian east coast. A well-known tourist destination, it’s always been considered the capital of clubs and nightlife. It counts 150.000 inhabitants, but in summer it becomes a small metropolis that can accommodate up to 2.500.000 people. Muse and inspiration of great artists that described it through their eyes, such as native-born photographer Marco Pesaresi with his black and white shots, or great director Federico Fellini, thanks to whom, in the ’70s, Rimini became famous in the whole world after his film Amarcord (translating “I remember”). A movie telling the life the inhabitants of a oneiric Rimini, perpetually suspended between childhood dreams and teenage turmoil. During the ’80s clubs and discos lived their golden age, with a large number of visitors, VIP’s and a display of extreme luxury which led to the ’90s, where luxury and strict selection at the entrance of clubs made way for experimentation, afterhours parties and music research. Despite the fact that times have changed and several historic clubs are now shut down for good, Rimini can still charm night people who long for transgression so much. This project by Federico Arcangeli came alive a bit by chance. Born at first more as a photo-diary of nights out going clubbing with friends, it then becomes the slice of an era, not far from its bygone splendour. Through his lens and his images he carries us to those clubs, drenched in that dreamy atmosphere that only the “Riviera” (Romagna coast) can create. Thanks to his shots we meet again those Felliniesque characters in fun and grotesque situations. We find couples dancing and holding each other, following love rituals which last a nighttime and disappear at sunrise; we find eternal youngsters who never get old, as if in Neverland. What comes out is the portrait of a sultry, sexy, charming town which resembles a playground, where one can let oneself be tempted. Pleasure Island conveys for bare life and fun as a privileged dimension of life and induces thoughts on the central theme of what is today’s society. The project places the key figure of the “consumattore” (consumer-actor) at the center of the representation. As an actor, the consumer interprets himself within a social imaginary inspired by lifestyles transformed into merchandise. Pleasure Island represents them in its multiplicity of registers, rituals, and trends. The images tell of a new diversification of the social composition of the supply chain of emotions and desire. All the pictures were taken between 2015 and 2018.


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