Anamorphic Installations Against Urban Decay

Some contemporary artists have used anamorphosis to stop decades of urban decay, which generates the social one, which then usually produces vandalism. This chain of interrelated negative consequences, therefore, induces, in private investors and public administration, the fear of rapid damage to the art installations, which can thus determine an equally rapid loss of funds invested in redevelopment. On the contrary, some artists have taken the degraded urban context as an inspiration, as a communicative and experiential subject, transforming those uncomfortable spaces in places that instead are able to produce a sense of redemption. This chapter analyses the anamorphic artistic project entitled Luz nas vielas (2012) by the Spanish collective Boa Mistura, located in the favelas of São Paulo in Brazil. Luz nas vielas is a disruptive and poetic permanent anamorphic installation with a territorial scale. The chapter also analyses a recent anamorphic temporary installation designed by Mariano Marmo and Alessandra Pagliano for the metro station of Piscinola/Scampia in Naples.