Even if he’s still a student, Italian digital artist Giacomo Carmagnola has already found a personal style based on deformity and distortion. Born in the era in which the phrase a picture is worth a thousand words becomes more real than ever, he gives his special touch to images – from a melting iceberg to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Despite his youth, he’s appeared on Courrier International and exhibited in Barcelona-based festival OFFF. We talk to him to see how he’s doing and what expectations he has.
I never knew it. I just started to do what I liked and people started to follow me. There wasn’t a “plan” for it.
Yes, I think I would. You can find “disturbance” everywhere and in every era. André Kertész’s “Distortion Series” are just an example of how other people found beauty in the perturbation and distortion in the past.
Probably, like I said to other people, this came from an overload of pics I’ve seen on books and web. I don’t really know why I started to do this. There are probably a lot of artists who inspire me, but the list is too long to say them all.
It depends on the image I’m working with. It can take from half a day to several days. I am a very finicky person.
Sometimes I think about a subject I would like to re-style during a previous research, and other times I just find a great pic and start thinking, “how can I put something from me in this photo?”. There is not a static process to do it. I am inspired by what surrounds me.
Yes, but I want to keep the secret (laughs).
I personally try to use only images without copyright. It’s something twisted.
I like these images because they are very strong for themselves, also without my work. I also like the contexts of religion: how they change from one to another. So I tried to “restyle” them with my eyes.
For me, it symbolizes violence, of course, but also a massive aesthetic that you can find in pictures that are usually described as disturbing.
The original artist of this amazing sculpture is Raffaele Monti. Probably one of my favourite artists who also inspired me is Emir Sehanovic. I love his works and it would be an honour for me to make a collaboration with him.
In my opinion, everyone should remain without limits or too many influences, digital or not. The most important skill for someone who wants to create something is to stay free. Maybe it sounds like a hippie statement (laughs), but not to tie your own person to the limits is the most important skill. Always push the boundaries.
I do not know how to see myself in five years. Five years ago I liked to draw, and reviewing the designs of that time, I have to say that they were just bad. Maybe it will happen the same, or maybe I’ll be able to rise slowly, climbing and achieving important goals.
Obviously I would like to be in some important museum of modern art. But maybe I'm dreaming too. Meanwhile it has already been wonderful to know that my work has been shown at the OFFF. At the same time, in these days, the guys from MAGMA, an Italian art collective, are making a beautiful show where I also exhibit my works. It's great.
It’s difficult to say. I see my works more like distortions than “pure glitch”. But in my opinion, I’m sure that we will continue to hear about it for a long time, or at least I hope so.
