Art – CTRLZAK Studio

Contemporary Murals

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 10:59:43 +0000

An ongoing research redefining the concept of wallpapers through artistic murals. The mural is the oldest painting technique, because walls were the first painting surface that humans worked on. In the contemporary era, mural art finds in wallpapers a partner: both of them stand on walls and both of them need water and paint to take shape. Having this in mind we developed wallpapers that take over the role of old murals, becoming site specific artworks accessible to many. For each wallpaper, we have carried out profound research playing with the perception of internal/external space, proposing artworks that invite people to reflect in their daily lives. All the wallpapers are manufactured by the Italian company Wall&decò. Find the “Medusae” contemporary wallpaper on Ekies’ Resort suites and discover more on : wallanddeco.com

Extincto

Sat, 20 Aug 2022 10:49:01 +0000

A research project on the issue of species extinction and the loss of biodiversity caused by humans. Extinction by definition is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms (taxon), normally a species. Most great extinction events in the past are caused by ’normal’ evolutionary dynamics (glaciations, volcanic eruptions and other unpredictable natural events such as the collision of an asteroid) but the long course of extinctions is increasing in a frenetic rhythm not related to any past events. In the last centuries especially the phenomenon of extinction is inversely proportional to anthropogenic action (for example: deforestation, territories’ conversion in agricultural or farming areas, urbanisation, pollution, introduction of non-native species, the continuous rise of global temperature, etc.). Discover more about our research here.

Research on Extinction
The reckless and indiscriminate abuse of earth by mankind has altered the balance of the flora and fauna, threatening the planet’s ecosystems. It is thus only logical that biologists talk about a Mass 6th Extinction (defined also as “anthropogenic”) that soon may reset life as we know it on this planet. Since it is difficult to understand the extent of this problem, based only on scientific data, CTRLZAK studio decided to use alternative modes of expression -art and design- to bring awareness to the public regarding this phenomenon. (right : IUCN Red List‘s world map on extinction)

First Artifacts | Initial Reflections
Following the meticulous research a series of interventions and heterogeneous elements were created that introduce the viewer to certain paradigms of extinction caused by humans. A number of emblematic cases were analysed and presented in the forms of artworks or objects showing us how species have in many cases vanished as a result of human intervention in diverse ways. EXTINCTO wants to become a moment of encounter and a point of reflection on the problem of species extinction and its possible repercussions in the near future as well as the role of humankind on earth, here and now.

The Perfect Knife | 2014
A knife is an object that since the beginning of human existence was used as a weapon and in most cases was associated with the procurement of food. Nowadays knives are mainly used in the kitchen environment where there is still a strong association with the element of slaughter, even though people tend to forget that. This project alters the primary function of a standardised object creating instead an object of reflection. This ‘Perfect Knife’ is an object which cuts, perforates and injures the flesh of both the ‘prey’ and the ‘predator’. The sharp edge is everywhere around the rim of the knife while its flat shape obliges the user to hold it in a manner which assures his own injury. A perfect form of an archetypal knife, which embodies the forms of all knives in one. A responsible object which in order to be used requires courage and awareness. The question though is whether we are ready to take in our hands such a ‘dysfunctional’ object.

To Bee Or Not To Be | 2015
CTRLZAK was initially asked by the Green Island initiative to design an urban beehive, but after an extensive research on the subject it was obvious that such an object was not the first priority. Instead emphasis was placed on communicating to the world the important role bees play in our everyday life. This realisation gave birth to two graphic artworks that present the bees’ life cycle, their habitat and above all the role they play on pollination and eventually our own survival on planet Earth. Inside this context a toolkit was also designed that contained an informative booklet on the world of bees, a selection of seeds from their favourite flowers and a wooden sling that promotes seed planting in a playful/guerrilla mode (by launching soil pellets rich in seeds). These and more tools are included into the wooden box which once emptied can also be hung on a tree and serve as a rudimental beehive. Finally in order to spread the message even further, a series of postcards containing diverse flower seeds (preferred by bees and in this case suited to a temperate climate) were sent and distributed around Europe. A symbolic project/call to action to help bees survival that promotes a few simple gestures: avoid the use of chemical pesticides and plant more and diverse flowers. Because as Albert Einstein put it: “If the bees disappear from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live”.

Extincto Flag | 2016
Presented as part of the White Flag exhibition, curated by Triennale di Milano during the 2016 London Design Biennale, the flag was made using a fire-branded Extinction symbol on white animal skin. Italian designers have been asked to design a white flag, filling it with symbols, signs and meaning to convey the value of a contemporary metaphor of utopia, according to the curators: not a form of construction, but rather an act of deconstruction. 20 flags will be planted on a suitably redesigned map of the world: flags fluttering and moving in the breeze.

Fendo Mirrors for MOGG | 2016
Modern extinction rates of vertebrates have increased dramatically in the last 500 years and the main cause for this is none other than man himself, directly or indirectly. The basis of this project are two mammals that could still be found in large numbers in Africa a few centuries ago but were hunted to extinction by humans: the Bluebuck (Hippotragus Leucophaeus) and the Bubal hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus). The Fendo project takes the form of two sculptural objects that replicate the shape of the animals’ heads and characteristic horns, while a mirror is placed where the animal’s face would originally be, reflecting the faces of the people looking into it. The humans complete the work with their own faces creating thus a new creature which is at the same time the hunter and the hunted. Fendo are hybrid objects that reflect our past and give a glimpse to our future when we will inevitably become the victims of our own actions.

Paradigms of the Anthropocene | 2017
Presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Lissone, the exhibition is developed in a series of interventions and heterogeneous elements that introduce the spectator to certain paradigms of extinction caused by humans. Through careful research, some emblematic cases were analysed showing us how species have weakened and in many cases vanished altogether as a result of human intervention in diverse ways. In the exhibition are present artworks and objects of everyday use but also symbolic objects.

Book of Paradigms | 2017
A 1998 poll conducted by the American Museum of Natural History found that seventy percent of biologists believe that we are in the midst of an anthropogenic extinction. Numerous scientific studies — such as a 2004 report published in Nature, and papers authored by the 10,000 scientists who contribute to the IUCN’s annual Red List of threatened species — have since reinforced this conviction. Published along the EXTINCTO: Paradigms from the Anthropocene exhibition, the book contains a selection of the studio’s works regarding modern extinction. Consult the digital version here.

The Limits to Growth | 2018
Some pieces were also presented during ‘The Limits To Growth’ exhibition at the Centre for Innovation and Design (CID) Grand Hornu in Boussu, Belgium. The exhibition begins by presenting several critical works by artists who point out, often humorously, the failings of the dominant system to which they nevertheless belong. Six lines of reflection then propose alternatives for more sustainable design: deliberate simplicity, recycling, local production, low-tech, fighting against programmed obsolescence and the arrival of new economic models. Whilst no approach is perfect or satisfactory, each one has the merit of raising awareness and showing that it is possible to think about design in another way.

Bucardo & Moa Planters | 2019
A series of volumes pays homage to some extinct species due to human action. Ironically, we find ourselves living with these relics of which we have decided our destiny. A geometric block captures an anatomical detail that emerges in sharp contrast with the surface of the volume. Contemporary trophies that make us also reflect on our own fate.

Coral Loss | 2019
A series of carpets that investigates the wonderful nature of corals and their terrible fate. Coral bleaching is a tangible sign of their reaction to some kind of stress, especially when the water temperature rises. Before dying, corals produce vibrantly coloured chemicals that act as sunscreens to protect themselves. This way, they create a range of “glowing” colours that embody these ecosystems’ beautiful death. Discover more on the Grounded Art page and on : yo2.io

Waterness

Sun, 01 Jan 2017 10:00:28 +0000

An art installation about water created in collaboration with JCP Universe, for the Design on Water exhibition by Luisa via Roma, on the river Arno. The installation enhances the essence and the importance of water in its multiple forms. The visitor becomes involved using all his senses in an experiential journey of transparencies and reflections. To look, listen and taste water are some of the implemented actions in Waterness; a path of conscience and personal reflection on the value of water and our direct relationship with this element. The installation consists of large mirror slabs that symbolically recreate Arno’s surface. On them are positioned “Dolmlod“- a piece designed by CTRLZAK studio for JCP Universe – along with a multitude of glass containers of different sizes. Through an infusion process the containers are filled with water, drop by drop, forming a symbiotic connection between symbolism and substance.

We created especially for this project, a collection of glasses named Level. The glasses, having the same shape and size, differ in the filled quantity of water, creating a layering of shapes and volumes that highlight not the form but the content. The installation is completed through an action of water tasting, using samples from different countries where there are issues related to water. The aim is to create awareness around these issues in the historical moment that we live in. Drinking water is a limited resource essential to life, but still in many countries there is contaminated water that causes diseases, infections and ultimately deaths. Waterness is an invitation to reflect and to underline everybody’s responsibility towards the greatest gift this planet has to offer: water.

Paradigms Of A Hybrid World

Thu, 01 Jan 2015 08:48:03 +0000

An exhibition examining various scenarios of a ’hybrid future’, stemming from the studio’s research on cross-cultural contamination. Starting from the history of porcelain and moving on to the world of textiles the various projects undertaken focused primarily on two ancient cultures: the European and the Chinese. A selection of this body of work was presented at Spaziootto a Sino-Italian space in Milan between December 2014 and January 2015. The exhibition, curated by Federica Sala, presented a visual narrative that proposed examples of artworks and objects that transcend national boundaries projecting them to a future world evermore unified and mixed. The aim is to reflect upon this future possibility respecting past individual cultures while creating new hybrid paradigms instead of chimaeras of globalisation.

CeramiX Art Collection
CeramiX is a series of ceramic objects reflecting on the historical production of Chinese and European porcelain and its centuries of cross-fertilisation between Western and Eastern aesthetics. China has a long tradition in the production of ceramics and especially porcelain and Europe has for many centuries tried to copy the Chinese in that field. Nowadays our world is invaded by Chinese products that in most cases attempt to imitate those of Europeans. CeramiX is a reflection upon the irony of history through the world of ceramics. After an initial research in the traditional techniques, methods and evolution of both Chinese and European ceramics, the CTRLZAK team has identified certain key elements that distinguish both cultures. CeramiX Art Collection consists of 24 original pieces derived from classical Chinese and European plates, bowls, vases and cups, reassembled as unusual remixes. These objects were sought for in antique stores and flea markets and some of them even came from personal family collections. The pairing process of the two heterogeneous halves was by no means arbitrary; each piece has a visual narrative which is created through a careful selection of the two parts in such a way that they complement each other, enriching the end result. CeramiX Art Collection was the inspiration for the Hybrid project, which brings art in everyday life. Discover more about our hybrid research here.

Timeless

Thu, 01 Jan 2015 08:47:15 +0000

A contemplative piece that crystallises the perception of time. Time is something that cannot be seen, cannot be touched, smelled or be tasted. How is it then that we can visualise this vague concept within the physical space that we perceive with our senses? Hegel in the first section of his book “The Philosophy of Nature” (§257) says: “Space ‘is’ time, that is time is the ‘truth’ of space”. In other words time gives life to space as it manifests its existence through space. One of the core characteristics of time is its irreversibility. This attribute of time can easily be perceived through the element of movement. Whenever we perceive movement the concept of time is embedded within our understanding and is sufficient proof of the fact that a certain period of time has passed. Sand clocks were among the first instruments that man devised to visually perceive and measure time.

Timeless utilises the properties of traditional materials in reviewing this nearly forgotten object. The main body is made of mouth-blown borosilicate glass, respecting the traditional manufacturing techniques, providing the transparency and resistance that other solid materials lack thanks to its amorphous molecular properties. Inside the glass vial though instead of sand are found refined iron fillings that trickle from one compartment to the other, revealing the passage of time not only through their movement but also through the creation of a small spatial crystalline structure. The base and supporting elements are made of brass, a metal that is traditionally used for scientific instruments and precision machinery. Furthermore its low magnetic permeability allows the magnet hidden in its base to interact unhindered with the iron fillings contained within the main glass body. Time is thus doubly revealed to the observer not only through perpetual movement but also through the properties of the materials that contain its visualisation. Find other contemplative objects on JCP Artifacts and discover more on : secondome.it

Transubstantia Paganus

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 08:42:25 +0000

A project of symbolic design about the ephemeral nature of mass produced objects. The culinary act, seen as an occasion of encounter, has been the first form of ritual: a pagan customary practice that has transcended to what is known as the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist. “Take and eat, this is my body; I am the bread of life, he who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” According to Christian tradition transubstantiation is the physical transformation of bread and wine to Jesus Christ’s body and blood. A laid out table with tableware created from church host (sacramental bread) is the transfiguration of Jesus’ body in objects, in an ethereal personalization and veneration of the product. A comment on mass consumerism and the lack of values through the profanation of the host as a food substance, bringing it thus back to a worldly level.

In a contemporary historic moment of ideological, political and religious crisis Transubstantia Paganus is a mirror that allows the comparison between the spectator and the metaphorical meaning of the work; we are all part of the process, victims and executioners of the decadence in every field of contemporary life: religion, politics, society and the environment. The objects composing the banquet reflect the condition of fragility and emptiness, celebrating the return to a process where symbolism is stronger than morphology, denying the object’s own substance which is lost in primordial and fragile forms. Discover other tableware projects on CeramiX and Monumentale.

Hic Et Nunc

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:40:42 +0000

An exhibition specifically conceived for the space of the Moroni mansion in Bergamo old town with the scope of discovering and reliving it through a multitude of viewpoints. The Hybrid porcelain collection, the CeramiX Art collection, the fabrics of the Flagmented project and a sound installation designed specifically for the occasion interact with the traditional furnishings and objects already present in the space. Within the halls of the palace the artworks of the CeramiX Art collection mingle with the existing porcelain sculptures while the Hybrid bone china collection is displayed alongside the chinaware used in the mansion in past centuries. Everything is laid out in the various tables around the rooms expecting guests of another era or so it seems… The visitor thinks at first glance that all is as it should be but then gradually discovers the contemporary pieces which make reference to the existing porcelain pieces alongside them. The visitor is thus accompanied on a journey that makes him seek and discover among the objects of the past, “new” souvenirs of a hybrid world. Discover more on : dimoredesign.it

Sound Installation
The sound installation created for the occasion is located in the ballroom at the centre of the mansion. The visitors on their guided tour pass first from one side of the room, where classical waltz music is heard, while entering the room from the other side they listen to pieces of traditional Chinese music. Concluding their tour they find themselves in the centre of the ballroom where the two kinds of music mingle together in a new hybrid one.

The Flagmented Banners
Symbols of a new hybrid culture built on past legacies, the banners greet visitors in the arcade entrance and weave an invisible thread with the history of the Moroni family that played an important role in the supply of raw materials (mainly silk) for the textile industry. Discover more on the Flagmented artworks here.

Flagmented

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:00:16 +0000

A research project on the textile traditions of Europe and China, resulting in a series of artworks which integrate traditional fabrics from both cultures. The project represents a possible future able to surpass normal cultural borders and expressions. Classical European embroidery and Toile de Jouy are coupled with traditional Chinese fabrics forming unique pieces that stitch together the two diverse realities. The unexpected results mark a new era of globalisation becoming the flags of a new hybrid culture. Find other projects related on textile traditions and discover more on : pamono.eu

Remeditate

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:00:46 +0000

A series of items inspired by the medical world reflecting upon the symbolic and functional issues of objects. Users are invited to coexist with atypical pieces that one would find difficult to accept in everyday life, undoubtedly disassociated from the usual concept of well-being. Tables, chairs and lamps are ‘afflicted’ with diverse pathologies; an ironic operation which goes beyond the aesthetics of the products and refers to the ephemeral conditions of human life. Discover more on : pamono.eu