Cybernetic Existentialism
Main menu:
Center for the Multidisciplinary Study ofCybernetic ExistentialismThe Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Cybernetic Existentialism is a presentation platform for TECHNOLOGY IN ART.Carmen Gallo founded the Center in Manhattan over 30 years ago as a platform to present Art, Philosophy, Technologies and Trends of the Day in Technology.Recently the Center embarked on its most ambitious and visionary journey to date as it presented:“Fifty Years of Robotics in Art”, oil paintings by Ruffo Caselli, the father of Cybernetic Existentialism.The very uniqueness of this exhibit documents an unprecedented interpretation of a journey through the development of robotics in technologies used today.
The artistItalian artist Ruffo Caselli paints canvasses representing elegant robots dotted with little squares, sensors and microchips. He is one of the world's leading interpreters of the changes that have taken place in our lifetime.Since the late 1950s, he has linked his themes to contemporary technology and a mutant humanity searching for answers in a technological universe. From transistors to semiconductors and barcodes Caselli paints with oil colors on canvasses where even the space between people is populated by mysterious, omnipotent chips.The idea behind the art of Ruffo Caselli is one of a progressive mutation of our way of thinking that includes all aspects of our existence, personal relations, communication, work and play as they are intertwined with technology."Technology imitates life and chips, it is who we are" - says the 86 years old artist, who incorporates the insights of scientific and technological research with his own artistic expression in a process that goes back ever since he can remember.In his works of decades, the painted figure(s) give life to a robot that is a sort of elegant computer-man hybrid who has a silicon heart for resonance with a technological universe that surrounds him.
More about him
Ruffo Caselli is considered the father of Cybernetic Existentialism. The title appeared for the first time at the Spazio Italia Gallery in Soho, New York where his paintings introduced by his friend and curator, Carmen Gallo, drew praise from the most discriminating collectors.
His list of applications is limitless ranging from transgenic plants to the genetic modifications of animals. In the '80's he played with metaphors of Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence and Phenomenology.
His art has evolved in tandem with technology on a journey that started with the invention of integrated circuits at the end of the '50s. It then moved through bar codes and on to the microchips of today. He endows these microchips with the capacity to adapt to the ever-changing needs of man and his psyche.
The power of the message is softened by the inclusion of relaxed and ageless robots in an almost theatrical composition that sometimes brings to mind the great heroes of the Classics or the chorus of a Greek tragedy.
He paints instinctively. And whether he fills his canvasses with disappointment or enthusiasm, they are all an affirmation of freedom.
Ruffo’s work has a relevance that transcends his life and the times. He introduces the viewer to an existential paradox that often escapes systematic reason like the cybernetic dissolution of boundaries between humans and technology.
Born in Florence, he spent most of his life in Milan always in contact with intellectuals and artists including Lucio Fontana.
At the end of the 50’s as Lucio Fontana began to puncture and cut his canvasses, Ruffo started to paint, at times glue or even times Caselli sawed sensors and integrated circuits formulating his theory of art as the interpreter of modern-day communication.
Ruffo Caselli’s paintings have been shown in over 120 important exhibits in Italy, the United States, South Korea, Dubai and in South America where he has received numerous awards for excellence in Art.
Today, his work is treasured by the Center for the Multidisciplinary study of Cybernetic Existentialism. Pure existentialist philosophy expressed in oil on canvas by the father of Cybernetic Existentialism.
