IN CONVERSATION WITH STUDIOPLUZ
WonderGlass: Your practice swifts between art, design, creative direction, fashion, and graphics. How would you describe yourself?
studiopluz: I don’t like the idea of being defined. Like most human beings, I am many people in one. I have always loved to follow different paths, carried away by the hope of creating something meaningful that will last over time. Definitely what moves me is the desire to transform the glimpse of an idea into something tangible, real. It is a very exciting process.
WonderGlass: You have been working a lot with glass in your projects, do you feel a special connection with this material?
studiopluz: I started thinking about how to model and play with glass by accident. Working as the creative director of WonderGlass allowed me to see the world of glass from a different point of view, behind the scenes, and this gave me a whole different perspective on the material and its infinite crafting and creative possibilities. Visiting the furnaces often indirectly gave me inspiration and made it possible to create a connection with the world of glass. The magic enclosed in it then gave the boost to my ideas.
WonderGlass: Your projects are often related to space, to sound and to the unknown. What influences your work and where do you draw your inspiration from?
studiopluz: I think we are all moved and pushed by unknown forces. We live in a historical moment where technology tries to find solutions to all of our problems, to all of our doubts — this is an inevitable process. However, I believe it is essential for a creative mind to feed off the unknown, the hidden, the undefined. For this reason, what I can’t explain is what drives me and inspires me the most, the incognito that powers my pulses. I sense it in fairy tales, in legends, in mythology, into something ancient that I perceive within me.
WonderGlass: Minosse, a glass throne made of bricks and hand-painted with airbrush like a canvas, will be displayed at the Milan Triennale 2021 for the exhibition ‘Vitrea’. What was the research and creative process behind it?
studiopluz: Since I was a child I was fascinated by the history of the Minos throne and its sacrality and mystery. I thought that glass was the right material to reinterpret this legend in a modern way. The glass brick structure of the throne is a reference to the architectural composition of the palace of Knossos in Crete, which was the main room of the Mycenae’s king. The bright colours applied by hand on the surface of the throne are an interpretation of the colourful frescoes found in the room during archaeological excavations. Glass is visually so modern, but at the same time, it contains a very ancient DNA. I tried to complement and harmonize the characteristics of this matter through an ancient myth.