Horror vacui is not an old art style… Horror vacui is a contemporary lifestyle. You can find it in Donnatella Versace’s over-the-top designs or in the desktop packed with files and folders of that colleague of yours. It’s in Rosalia’s outfits and nails, and also in the decoration of your best friend’s wedding. And although we’ve decided to approach Horror vacui in a funny way, there are so many different ways of putting it in the present tense.
MATTEO ZAMAGNI, HORROR VACUI, ECOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY AND ART
Matteo Zamagni is showing in MIRA festival his particular take on Horror Vacui. Ecology, spirituality, science and art merge on this audiovisual piece which is also a perfect opportunity to talk with the artist about God and men.
One of these ways is the movie Matteo Zamagni showed at MIRA festival. It’s not a funny way, but a thoughtful and deep one. As an expert on new media interested on using art as a meeting space for spirituality and science, this Italian artist living in London is moved by the many meanings of Horror vacui... Let’s talk with him about them.
You’re coming to MIRA to present Horror Vacui… Why do you think this festival is the best place to get into your piece?
MIRA lends itself as the perfect and most suitable environment for showing contemporary cutting edge creative works at the fringe of unusual experimental and technological exploration. The festival host a community exploring pressing contemporary themes that requires addressing from many different angles.
First thing that’s going to come to everyone’s mind is the artistic take on horror vacui that was very important on the Baroque and Rococo era, even though it has been a constant through the centuries. Is it time for horror vacui to get into digital art?
As you said, somehow horror vacui has always been present, maybe under the disguise of different names and methods of application, but nonetheless ever existing. I see this therm of ‘filling entire surfaces without leaving empty space’ applied not only in art and creative processes but to geopolitics and modes of human expansion. Watch a time-lapse of the earth morphologies as they become increasingly artificial.
In fact, horror vacui is also a concept used in science. Are you also interested in that scientific side?
I wasn't aware that the term is also used in science! But I can imagine how the terms apply in biology and ecology when looking at organic growth for instance. Although my film is deeply informed by science and its tools for surveying and simulation.
I’ve read that horror vacui is a warning about the destruction of nature in the name of human expansion… How do you achieve that?
Horror vacui is more about the alarming signs that we as society have fallen prisoners of our own selfish desires of power and greed to the point that not only we are harming ourselves in the process, but we are also taking down with us many other species and ecosystems. We are ultimately harming what keeps us alive. I wanted to communicate this sense of urgency to act through the film, as well the idea that perceived reality is biased and illusory, so is what other living being perceived as their own version of reality, so that they would question the idea of perceived reality as absolute.
I’ve also read that there’s some Buddhist philosophy in Horror Vacui...
On the one hand, the title of the film refers to its literal etymological meaning, ‘fear of empty space’, of ever increasing contaminated geologies… On the other hand, I see it as a deeper reference to Buddhist philosophy. As I found incredibly fascinating the Buddhist view of emptiness as the ultimate truth, beyond the self, consciousness, beyond senses and feeling, beyond form. To reach an understanding of emptiness and impermanence and equanimity is to reach enlightenment and bring an end to suffering.
Art, science and spirituality… We’ve been already talking about these three concepts. Do you think art can (or must) be the space where spirituality and science meet?
Certainly, art is a powerful medium to communicate and interrelate both science and spirituality, but it is not the only vehicle… That's just my preferred way of communicating these subjects.
How do you explore new media as a tool to explore the relation between your art and how people perceive it?
My approach to new media is very fluid: I jump from tool to tool and always explore new ways of communication and interactivity. Whenever I think of an idea, I simultaneously think of what medium would suit best to deliver the most impact. Each medium that I use has its own strong and weak points. Furthermore, the process of materialising an idea is often shaped by my own choices, but also by the machine's technical constraints and capacity.
What are you working on now that we’re gonna see next?
I will be releasing some music in January of next year from the Shanghai based label SVBKVLT alongside a little audio/visual performance. I am currently planning my next (long) short-film alongside an in-depth ecology based research that will lead to physical, collaborative installations and long term exploration of alternative sustainable living.
