MATTEO ZAMAGNI

Refracted Bodies is the distillation of Zamagni’s latest artistic endeavours, combining established artistic mediaalongside XR (Mixed Reality) experiences. Realms composed of physical and non-physical elements bid visitorsoccupy and consider their role within the intricate technosphere that constitutes the contemporary age.Sculptures and found objects dispense connections between land and society, and consider the preservation ofancient knowledge and beliefs.

A laser-engraved print on cracked industrial plaster – repurposed from a Hackney demolition site – depicts acompound of the most powerful and transformative natural plants in the biosphere. These images are providedby the Royal Botanic Gardens online archives.

Existing in both realms, as a physical object and as a sound symbolising the spiritual importance of the land is aTalisman emitting crystalline light. The former is constructed of two rings: the outer is thrice layered in lasercut frosted material with custom engravings, water jet cut mild steel, and porcelain; the inner ring is metal;both are furnished with latex sheets. At the centre is a crystal, and two contiguous lasers which meet in thestone and deliver a luminous burst.

Defined physically by two branches covered with 3D-printed lichen-like structures and lasers, a portalconnects two distinct virtual realities; a pristine cave, 3D mapped from the artist’s visits to the Lake Districtand displayed with a uniquely constructed spatialised soundscape, and a mine. From the tangible objectsscattered about the space, to the painstakingly constructed spectral landscapes, the practice of gathering andassembling is explicit.

Here, Zamagni juxtaposes relics of hyper-industrialisation and the preservationist outlook of indigenousculture, where ecological, cosmological, and spiritual understanding, paved the way for a symbiotic relationshipwith nature. A critique of contemporary extractionism, Refracted Bodies considers the eradication, disrespect,and destruction of indigenous communities, exacerbated by capitalist forces. Project collaborators include JohnLucy, Wouter Weynants, Andrea Sartini with assistance from Guglielmo Baracchini, Luke Griffiths, DaisySmith, David Li. Special thanks to Andre Baumecker, Alessandra Gobbi, Hayden Martin, Eleanor Greenleaf.

Matteo Zamagni’s (B.1992) practice encompasses visual arts, multimedia installations, film production, andelectronic music. Combining these unique yet interlinked contemporary technologies with oracular themes,Zamagni reflects on the environmental, economic, and social turbulence of today.

Zamagni’s practice offers a holistic commentary on the correlations between disaster capitalism and the Earth’secosystems. Using analytical geoscientific tools, VR/AR/MR, real-time generative imaging, world-building,photogrammetry, physics simulations, and CGI techniques, his artworks simulate and combine elementalnatural forms with immersive media. This has included procedurally generated fractals, local reconstructionsof existing terrain via LiDAR point clouds, and macro-scale aerial views of the earth. The resulting worksare often stacked composites of recurring patterns in tangible and notional structures, depicting a complexcontinuum of local-global phenomena (from densely overpopulated spaces to climatological models).

Zamagni creates accessible, interactive entry-points for participants, who in turn, embody the artist’sexploration of the entanglements of critical-gaze, agency, human-machine perception, tracking the evolutionof post-anthropocentric consciousness fostered by an entangled technosphere and biosphere. His musicproduction project, Seven Orbits, provides a further platform for playful experimentation with audio-visualexperiences. Immersive audio-visual live sets and a recent EP released with the Shanghai-based SVBKVLTlabel make use of a broad palette of post-club stimuli that play with and confound audience perception. Anexperimental form of experience-hacking and inducing altered states that reflect the vertigo of Zamagni’smachine-vision driven visual art.