GLI ASCOLTATORI – Pietrasanta (Lu) – July 18 – August 3th

The exhibition Gli Ascoltatori (The Listeners), held inside the Sala delle Grasce in Pietrasanta, marks a new chapter in Luca Serasini’s ongoing evolutionary research. For years, Serasini has been engaged in a unique experimentation with languages, materials, and themes related to science, technology, and human interaction with the universe. The exhibition is part of the project Waiting for Angels, where biblical references intertwine with contemporary allusions, creating moments of synesthetic reflection.

At the entrance, visitors are welcomed by five sculptures representing ladders placed on stone bases. Each ladder is distinct in shape, color, and material, with the first featuring the presence of a Listener. This figure recalls Jacob, who, while sleeping in the desert, dreamed of an infinite ladder on which countless angels ascended and descended. Through the ladder—a recurring motif in the works on display—Luca Serasini seeks to “bring back” angels to Earth, as divine messengers and bearers of hope and justice.

The exhibition continues with a sound installation created by Luca Serasini and Marco Ricci Del Mastro, a contemporary model of how various artistic disciplines can merge into a unified expression that offers both a historical homage and a forward-looking vision of the present and future. Marco Ricci Del Mastro’s soundscapes inevitably evoke the early experiments of Nam June Paik and Wolf Vostell, pioneers of electronic art. However, the work goes even further back in time, referencing the great scientific discoveries of Guglielmo Marconi. The sound, born from the vibrations of stones and evolving into Morse code, fills the space in perfect harmony.

The installation features a round table upon which Luca Serasini depicts a Listener facing three ladders rising skyward. Accompanied by sound, this gaze seeks to intercept and exchange messages with the ether, in search of a new conceptual form of the self. While traditional metaphors often suggest only two paths, The Listeners challenges this notion by offering three ladders—not only as possible answers, but more importantly, as an additional alternative for overcoming certain social and psychological barriers in our daily lives. It is an ascent toward rediscovering a self that is finally open to new collective harmony.

Gli Ascoltatori is undoubtedly an immersive experience through which, via personal and introspective meditation, one can interact with and “tune in” to a renewed energy—at a historical moment when dialogue, sharing, and hope are more necessary than ever.

text by Maurizio Marco Tozzi