Niccolò Rastrelli

They Don’t Look Like Me

Curated by Paolo Woods and Kublaiklan
Produced for Cortona On The Move 2024 by Associazione Culturale ONTHEMOVE in partnership with con Autolinee Toscane e Lucca Comics.

The idea that we can change our identity by altering our appearance is as ancient as our consciousness of the body itself. Perhaps the most contemporary manifestation of this phenomenon is the practice of cosplay, embodied by digital natives. The term originates from the abbreviation of “costume + play,” indicating both the act of dressing up and the costume itself. In his project They Don’t Look Like Me, Niccolò Rastrelli explores this phenomenon. He embarks on a journey to Italy, Kenya and Japan, where he portrays cosplayers with their families, often creating ironic short circuits between bourgeois “normality” and the “extraordinariness” of an imagined life.