Exhibition view - courtesy of Clelia Cadamuro

Slow Manifesto explores in depth the theme of desire, poised between manipulation and authenticity, through the approach of several international artists.

On this occasion, works by Riccardo Benassi, Thomas Braida, Nina Ćeranić, Numero Cromatico, Petra Cortright, Sylvie Fleury, Esther Gamsu, Lauren Lee McCarthy, Rafaël  will be presented, illustrating the fellows’ research into the dynamics that condition human desire.

In contemporary times, manipulation of desire is indeed exercised through constant social pressures, which turns it into a mechanism fueling consumistic dynamics.

This leads to a crisis of subjectivity: the individual becomes trapped in a circuit that compels him to reproduce sterile market logics such as desiring on command, overwhelmed by external inputs. Desire ceases to be authentic and becomes suggested, packaged, administered. However, the system is not infallible, and the exhibition therefore investigates the faculty of questioning the very meaning of desire and explores how it might be freed from external constructs.

Through video art, painting, magazines, and installations, some of the artists presented explore the notions of waiting and possibility, rather than immediate gratification. Others, by contrast, expose the language of advertising, politics, and technology, fragmenting their codes and revealing their contradictions.

In a world saturated with stimuli, the exhibition invites visitors to slow down and reflect as a revolutionary act, freeing themselves from external conditioning and reclaiming the right to cultivate an authentic desire.

The exhibition unfolds across two levels, following a thematic progression. On the lower floor of the gallery, the focus is on the experience of a mind stimulated by external elements. The environment recreates the sensation of a waiting room overloaded with advertising. Images, slogans, and sounds amplify the tension between authentic and induced desire