Nothing Is As It Seems. 2009
Installation
250 x 250 x 170 cm

The installation, exhibited at ESAV, is a solitary cell with its walls cloaked in mirrors, illuminated by a flickering light. It appears like a raucous chamber of extravagant amusement. The cell's base rests on the concrete even though it is suspended by metal chains. The mirror reflects the image of the spectator to infinity, giving the impression of beauty and freedom. "Counterfeit beauty and illusory freedom," says the artist, "despite the aesthetic allure of the installation, it is still a cell, the primary purpose of which is the deprivation of freedom". She adds that the flickering light, although it appears radiant, is nothing more than an instrument of torture in the cell of the captive. After a series of works influenced by mafia violence in her native Sicily, Longo says that the inspiration for this work was the political situation in Morocco. "I arrived in Morocco before undertaking this installation," says the artist, "I met with numerous journalists and human rights activists and learnt that people are still struggling for the most basic freedoms and that they face punitive impediments simply for expressing their opinion so I decided to present a work about the question of freedom."