Written by Raluca Turcanasu for the IAA Global Conference “Creativity 4 Better”
Born in Buenos Aires and currently based between Madrid and Barcelona, the acclaimed Andrés Reisinger will be one of the most intriguing key notes at this year’s IAA Global Conference “Creativity 4 Better”. His keynote will center around “The Infinite Canvas”: how mediums and technologies intertwine and how human and artificial intelligence can enrich one other.
“As we stand at this nexus of ancient wisdom and modern innovation, we are reminded that our quest for understanding and expression remains an unchanging thread in the ever-evolving tapestry of existence.” Andrés Reisinger
One of the most appreciated digital artists and designers in the world, Reisinger aims to bridge the imagined and the tangible. His dreamy, surreal worlds, brought on screen with the help of a bespoke AI, have become quite viral on Instagram and inspired further artists. No wonder Forbes selected Reisinger in 2020 as on of their 30 Under 30 in the realm of art, while the German AD Magazine has named him one of the most important creatives of 2023.
“I’ve created a genre”, says Reisinger, and that is “Unclassifiable”, as per his instagram account. Even though he drapes reality in a pink veil, Reisinger’s uncanny worlds are low-key unsettling. Wouldn’t it be great to have huge, fluffy, cozy, inflatable structures pop-around our often dull cities, as the “Take Over” series proposes?
Could urbanism be reimagined and infused with playfulness in a seemingly easy manner like just inflating a structure or throwing some flashy textiles over some unattractive buildings?
Could it really be so easy to revamp our cities?
”The dream is my only real level of existence” said one of the main characters in Alain Resnais’ “Providence”, as his realities kept shifting. Browsing through Reisinger’s work, this idea resurfaced naturally, as if it was written to characterize his art and his ethos. Here and there, Reisinger’s surreal universes cross from disembodied concepts to material objects, such as the Hortensia chair brought to life by him with the help of designer Júlia Esqué. This capacity of embodiment, of pushing the limits between ethereal NFT works and real life objects, backed by his foundation as digital artist and designer, is essentially what makes Andrés Reisinger stand out. While Rarible, OpenSea or Instagram itself are brimming with mesmerizing AI-based works, the large majority remain captive in their digital realms, scrolled over again and again, but never actually touched in real life. And that’s exactly what Reisinger aims to do: bridge this digital-material divide, as he has previously shared for wallpaper.com:
For me, the digital is an expansion of our physical experiences. I like to provoke, to raise questions. Many of my works feature seemingly surreal forms. The colour palette is filled with shades of pink, like the inside of our body. It is very important for me to build a collection of bodily experiences, to underline that there is a strong connection between multiple dimensions, all belonging to a human reality.’ [1]
Playfulness is the name of the game. It is what triggers and informs Reisinger, who never liked to stay within the norms. And, while most of us used to devise entire playground universes as children (offline or in Minecraft, maybe?!) but ceased to do so as we grew out of that age, Andrés embraced this innocent but intricate imagination device, allowing it to become the very engine of his work.
Some of his earlier work – such as Pollen – could draw its roots from the artistic universe of Francis [1] Bacon, the Irish/ British master who has inspired numerous contemporary artists. Of course, the anxious/ depressive aesthetic of Bacon is cleansed in Reisinger’s work, while the constant becoming is what remains. In fact, Pollen was launched as an “add-on” to the previous NFT collection, Hortensia, thus playing along the ever-changing nature of NFTs themselves:
“POLLEN changes four times during the year, following the season. As a consequence, the moment in which collectors decide to pollinate dictates the outcome of the pollination and specific characteristics of the evolving artwork. To pollinate and receive a new artwork, they need to send their Hortensia together with one POLLEN to the pollination chamber, knowing that once they receive the new artwork their Hortensia and POLLEN will be burnt. The final phase occurs when collectors act out the pollination, and thus immediately receive a brand new and evolved Hortensia artwork that they’ll be able to keep forever.” – from the artist’s website.
After the success of Hortensia – the NFT and real object – The Shipping collection explores this intertwining further: it is a series of ten pieces of digital furniture, five of which come with physical counterparts.
As AR/VR adoption rate has been rather a slow one globally, mostly experimented in an utilitarian, practical sense (medical applications, maps) or a commercial one (such as IKEA’s tool to envision a piece of furniture at your place) it is refreshing and aspirational to find it in an art environment – where the audience can simply enjoy the flow of the dream, instead of expecting a practical outcome.
At the same time, from an actual production point of view, the work flow of Reisinger makes total sense: why even bother to manufacture an intricate (furniture) object when you can first check out your audience’s reaction with a digital creation. It could be even seen as an MVP, a minimal viable product, if we were to get back to product marketing thinking, that, when vouched for by the community, it becomes a sought-for digital collectible and, later, it might actually be built as a material product. Pragmatically, it makes total sense in our world of fast production and overconsumption, where millions of products end up as landfill.
Even more, this flow of production – from an intangible NFT to (maybe) a real-life object – proves economically viable for the artist, who sold a collection of “impossible” virtual furniture for 450,000$ at an NFT auction. The digital furniture pieces can then be used in Minecraft or Decentraland but the buyers also get their real-life counterparts, which is really cool!
Curious enough to come listen to Andrés and see his mind-boggling eye-candy creations?
Then wait no more and book your ticket to the IAA Global Conference.
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The IAA Global Conference “Creativity 4 Better” takes place on October 31st, in Bucharest. Secure your place now and let yourself inspired by international creatives from numerous disciplines: Lior Raz – actor, script writer and showrunner, Neha Singh – Founder of AR Fashion Multiverse Obsess, Felix Richter – CCO & Creative Partner at Mother London, Robert Solomon – “father” of client services, author of the renowned “The Art of Client Service” or Di Mayze, Global Head of Data & AI for WPP, to name just a few.
Ready to stir your creativity?
