INDUSTRY ICONS: ISE SPECIAL
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A n acclaimed artist across multiple disciplines, Quayola utilises custom software and the latest audio-visual technology to deliver incredible immersive installations, AV performances, robotically aided sculptures and Keynote and the presentation of Arborescent and Promenade – two major works – at this year’s ISE, the Rome- born artist spoke to LIVE about his hybrid approach to artistic animated landscapes. Ahead of his Creative creation, projection mapping’s evolution and reservations on the use of AI in art.
You’re going to be very much in evidence at ISE 2025. What can you tell us about the two projects you’re going to present at the show? Both of these works belong to the same set of research and thematics I’ve been exploring over the last few years, which relate to traditional landscape paintings in that they’re somehow observing nature as a vehicle for discovering new aesthetics. So both pieces deal with different types of observations and natural phenomena. In Promenade , there’s a piece related to a specific landscape in Switzerland, which draws on data that was captured in the mountains using different types of drones and LiDAR scanners. With Arborescent , it’s been quite a different process, although we developed various computer-generated, botanical, tree-like structures, and the work really revolves around those simulations. In my work, I’m generally interested in the idea of how machines see the work and employing machines to carry out the observations. It’s like putting myself in the shoes of an impressionist painter who would go out and try to capture a specific phenomenon, behaviour or lighting condition – but doing it with a very different technological apparatus. I’m also fascinated, not only in the ability of machines to observe the world, but in their limitations, so the errors that arise can be part of the work. You could almost say that the process of creating the art is part of the work itself, or that the work documents the process. With Arborescent being mapped onto Casa Batlló, one of architect and designer Antoni Gaudí’s great masterpieces, you clearly have a site of massive cultural and historical significance as a backdrop. What kind of collaboration with site custodians and technical partners does a project like this require? Besides the idea of observing nature, there’s always an underlying theme in the work about interacting with the historical tradition. That’s explored in various ways, but at the core of what I do is the relationship between past, present and future – heritage and the new form of ultra-contemporary languages. I believe that is a key reason I was invited to work on such a heritage site in the first place. This is coupled with the idea of forms, processes and behaviours being inspired by nature, which is very much related to Casa Batlló’s design. As the premise was already quite aligned with the context, they gave me quite a carte blanche. For the projection mapping, Casa Batlló fits almost perfectly within a 6:9 ratio, with some letterboxing coming out of the sides. So it’s not just dealing with the house, but also a few things that bleed outside the edges of it, which is actually a nice, interesting touch. In terms of equipment, I’m usually quite heavily involved in the technical and physical manifestation of projects because it’s a crucial component.
Interview David Davies
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