Studio AIRA ｜ Rhythmic virtual world of moving images, CGI and creative coding
theFOUND Virtual Art Center this TALK with Filippo Rotondi, the founder of CG Studio AIRA in Italy. Learning is movement, perception and technology.
"Do you think you're breathing air now?" Excerpt from the movie lines of Morpheus in the matrix, which is also the beginning of all the inspiration of studio aria. Studio founder Filippo Rotondi introduced to us that studio aria is a place where energy flows rapidly and ideas come true. Reality and imagination are two aspects of the same element: color becomes an object, things change appearance, geometry enters the space, and solids become fluids.
Studio Aira's creation is a multi sensory virtual digital creation that combines video, graphics, lighting, sound, architecture and interaction. The dialogue between artistic tradition and technological innovation creates a new relationship between classical art and digital language. Studio Aira works in different environments with the same passion, attention to detail, professional accuracy, balanced composition of space and purity of sound.
Brands that believed in our vision:
Fendi, Redbull, Vogue, Nike, Bvlgari, Nissan, Marlboro, GoreTex, Soundreef, Sony, Fincantieri, MiBACT, Poste Italiane, G-Shock, Enel, Martini, Bacardi, Lenovo, Ford, Cp Company, Molinari, Elica, Atac, Renault, Hera.
Q&A
theFOUND & Filippo Rotondi
Q1:
Can you introduce studio Aira studio and how it was established?
The idea of "Aira" was born in the early 2000s in the cramped attic of the house where I was living at the time. We initially started working on graphic design, websites in Flash, and short animation pieces, and at the same time I began studying 3D graphics software. A few years later we were involved with small commercial projects, but at night we worked in several Roman clubs as Vjs.
It was there that we were able to "road test" our experimental projects and gauge people’s reactions. At these clubs, we also made a lot of new contacts who became potential future clients.
This moment was our starting point of seriously working on animation projects for companies.
A short time later we set up "Studio AIRA", an ideal environment where we could produce our experimental graphics, plan interactive installations, and deepen our skills in motion graphics.
Studio Aira is the primary way to unleash our aesthetic explorations.
Q2:
What is the origin and meaning of the name of Aira studio?
Aira is a palindrome of ARIA (its meaning "air" in Italian); it represents the other side of looking glass, a screen, paper or a canvas becoming a gateway between 2 worlds. A little bit like "the Matrix" or A-ha’s - Take On Me music video (1985).
Q3:
Studio AIRA focuses on researching and creating multi-sensory landscape designs incorporating video, graphics, lighting, sound, architecture, and interaction. Where does the design inspiration of the Studio AIRA usually come from?
Inspiration comes from everyday life, from nature, from asking questions. Indeed, it takes time to understand where the places you can find answers actually are, you need to be able to make previously obscure and foreign elements your own.
Q4:
Most of the team members are from Italy. Under the influence of the combination of classical and modern art, you pursue the dialogue between artistic tradition and technological innovation, and create a new relationship between classical art and digital language. What other impacts have studio Aira suffered?
We clearly have multiple and wide-ranging influences from classical art, and Rome is our cradle. Our primary inspiration comes from music videos where movement and sound run parallel... Directors like Chris Cunningham and Spike Jonze were among the first, then G-munk is a continuous inspiration for his freedom of approach that he applies in every project. Many artists that we admire are often a guide for the future, people such as Matt and Simon Pike (Universal Everything), examples of elegance and harmony, these just to name a few but we follow the world of motion graphics, CGI, creative coding with great interest. Graphic design and every artistic expression are inspirational and push us to do better and better.
Q5:
Studio AIRA 's business scope involves commercial brands and artistic innovation. How to balance your customer needs with the studio's design philosophy?
Most likely if customers approach us, they know our philosophy and therefore expect support on both the creative and technical side. Many times we transfer ideas and technologies, developed through our experiments, to commercial projects or even better we use job requests to travel uncharted terrain. This gives us a way to always widen our horizons, and enhance our skills and enhance our skills in different fields, technologies and ideas.
Q6:
Among Studio AIRA many excellent projects, which one is of great significance to you?
Certainly "Sine" for Fendi, this was the most significant work for us, from multiple points of view.
Aesthetically, the result pleased us a lot and was it very much in line with our own personal tastes.
Conceptually, synesthetic projects represent great challenges and uncharted terrain. Technically, it represents a very significant goal to be able to master fluids in a realistic way in CGI.
Finally, the relationship with the client was synergistic and positive and, being such a prestigious name, it amplifies the satisfaction.
Q7:
How to view the relationship between "meta universe" and art design, and what infinite possibilities will digital art creators and meta universe bring to society in the future?
I think it is an interesting way, I hope it is not seen as an alternative to reality, but as a further expansion of human perception.
Q8:
What other areas does the Studio AIRA want to explore and try in the future?
Definitely using "gaming" technology (unity and UE) to create new interactive designs, multisensory experiments and AR.
I think that next spring we will drop our first project showcasing this technology.
