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A collaborative urban work of art on the link between nature and technology
L*3
- A Paste-Up Street Art performance work by Yuri Catania created on the façade of the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano on the occasion of the NFT Fest 2023.
The work questions the link between nature and technology and has involved hundreds of people who have collaborated in its creation by cutting and gluing the floral elements that frame the astronauts. - The final work carried out over 10 days is 42 meters long by 8 meters high.
The past-up work is destined to disappear over time, but not its digital version, which, having been tokenized, will continue to live within the Lugano metaverse. And it doesn't end here! For each flower glued to the wall by the participants, the City planted a real flower in a new green area dedicated to the work.
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Genesis of the opera
- The Paste-Up Street Art work combines Yuri Catania's artistic thought on the provocation to bring Nature and Technology into dialogue, as happened in the exhibition “The Night After” and other installations in the area (Casa Brè 2023).
The photographs of the flowers from his “Black Flower Secret Garden” merged with the 3D representations of the astronauts, creating a short circuit of hope and dialogue between nature and the technological future. - This project is continuing, thanks to the invitation of the Artistic Director of the NFT Fest Roberto Gorini and the availability of the location offered by the City of Lugano to create an ephemeral monumental work on paper on the theme and poster of the event, measuring 42 meters long and 8 meters high.
The artist questions and communicates with each other topics such as: web 3.0, Blockchain and NFTs in the artistic field, cryptocurrencies, metaverse, etc... trying to combine them with the place and the beautiful nature preserved in the Ciani Park. - The project is developed through the photography of plants and flowers in the park, which have been specially photographed at night by the artist. These become the setting for his astronauts, who represent the contemporary hero destined to guide humanity into space through technology and science. Mission that must be carried out in respect and dialogue with nature for the survival of the future of life on our planet.
Bio artist
- Yuri Catania, Italian-Swiss visual artist, has lived at Rovio Switzerland since 2013. He creates street art installations with the collage technique that are transformed into live performances with the support of the subjects portrayed or the people involved in the theme of the project. His photography is represented on a large scale in urban and architectural contexts.
On April 1-2, 2023, Catania created “ImPerfect”, an enormous work of art on 120 meters long paper in a public space in Milan to support research against breast cancer in collaboration with the Ieo-Monzino Foundation. - In 2021, he created “I Gatti di Rovio”, an installation consisting of 120 giant subjects that have been transformed into posters of different sizes that adorn the walls of his village.
The exhibition aimed to create a cultural phenomenon that would attract tourism, the largest solo open-air show with Rovio and his architecture as the protagonist in Ticino, Switzerland. Catania has exhibited in Milan, Venice, Zurich, New York, Paris, Saint Petersburg and beyond. His works are part of the collections of the Swiss State Bank, Migros Zurich, among others. - In addition to his site-specific works, Yuri Catania creates various art photographs, mixed media and NFT works, experimenting with different languages and new technologies, such as AI, augmented reality (AR) and 3D.
He started his career as a photographer in the fashion industry. His works have been published in the most important fashion magazines, such as Vogue, Numerò, Harper's Bazaar and others. But the photographer's greatest satisfaction derives from his intimate search to discover traces of humanity in empty and abandoned spaces, bringing out the most authentic and pure beauty far from the unrestrained glitter of luxury.
The location
A work created on the facade of the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano
- Palazzo Congresso, Villa Ciani
- Palazzo dei Congressi lato viale Carlo Cattaneo
LVGA/XY ASTRO FLOWERS
- Information about the work
- LVGA/XY ASTRO FLOWERS by Yuri Catania, Lugano 2023. Ephemeral site-specific installation measuring 42mt x 8mt. Unique, environmentally sustainable work, made of paper using the street art technique called Paste-Up (literally from English: paste on a surface).
The work is a collage of photographs (plants and flowers of the Ciani Park) and digital images (astronauts) created and printed on a 1:1 scale personally by the artist through a digital art process on a real scale. The installation took place with the collaboration of hundreds of volunteers who participated both as individuals and as associations.
- LVGA/XY ASTRO FLOWERS by Yuri Catania, Lugano 2023. Ephemeral site-specific installation measuring 42mt x 8mt. Unique, environmentally sustainable work, made of paper using the street art technique called Paste-Up (literally from English: paste on a surface).
- Digitization/tokenization of the work
- The physical work was digitized through a 3D scanner and then donated by the artist to the City of Lugano to be musealized through a dedicated space in the City's Metaverse. Through any mobile device it is possible to reproduce the work in mixed augmented reality.
Lugano Living Lab participated in the tokenization of the work on the 3Achain city blockchain. In fact, all volunteers receive in memory and as a thank you for their participation a commemorative NFT that represents the timelapse of the performance to be kept in their MyLugano wallet.
- The physical work was digitized through a 3D scanner and then donated by the artist to the City of Lugano to be musealized through a dedicated space in the City's Metaverse. Through any mobile device it is possible to reproduce the work in mixed augmented reality.
- A new green area
- The more than 2,000 paper flowers metaphorically planted on the wall by the artist and volunteers will be planted, this time for real, by the city's public green team to create a new green area in the City.
The inauguration of this flowerbed, scheduled for spring 2024, will mark the definitive closing of this performance and the closing of a circle that started with art, passed through technology and then symbolically ended in nature.
- The more than 2,000 paper flowers metaphorically planted on the wall by the artist and volunteers will be planted, this time for real, by the city's public green team to create a new green area in the City.
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