Free Radicals

“Our lives are shaped by the collective efforts of countless others, past and present. To embrace solidarity is not to deny individuality but to recognize that our freedom is bound up with the freedom of others.”

Aaron Bastani – “Fully Automated Luxury Communism: A Manifesto”

In chemistry, radicals (free radicals) are molecules that contain unpaired electrons in their structure. In the human body, some free radicals play a role in immunity, while others can lead to the onset of chronic diseases. Metaphorically, a similar duality is found at the societal level, in the tension between individualism and solidarity, where the individual can be likened to a “free radical.” Our freedom and identity are, in fact, products of complex networks of social, technological, and historical interactions, in which we collectively participate.

The work takes the form of a digital simulation of a chemical reaction that unfolds in real-time. Through a LIDAR camera, the positions and movements of people in the exhibition space influence the evolution of the virtual reaction. These transformations symbolize how individual actions intertwine with collective ones, reflecting a vision of freedom as deeply connected to solidarity and collaboration. The viewer becomes an agent of change, and the disturbance they create generates configurations and meanings within the work.

Artist Statement:

The last five years have loaded history with “limit-events” at a pace almost impossible to absorb at an individual level. Crisis after crisis, we have taken refuge in others, offering refuge in return. I chose to look at the festival’s theme through the lens of solidarity; love, although an individual experience, is also something we have in common. In this whole climate, I consider Bastani’s markedly utopian perspective to be more than necessary.