Sturm&Drang
The project “Sturm&Drang”, curated by Luigi Alberto Cippini (Armature Globale), Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen (gta exhibitions, ETH Zurich), explores Computer-generated imagery (CGI) practices, experiences, and environments.
Originated from a collaboration between Fondazione Prada and gta exhibitions at the ETH Zurich Department of Architecture, “Sturm&Drang” consists of a series of online masterclasses from 7 April 2021 and an exhibition project in the spaces of Osservatorio Fondazione Prada in Milan from 16 September 2021 to 17 January 2022 and later at gta exhibitions, ETH Zurich.
CGI is the creation of still or animated visual content with imaging software. It is used to produce pictures and videos for many purposes including film special effects, video games, online chat rooms but also warfare, medicine, engineering or architectural design, visual art, advertising, television shows, as well as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications. Strengthened by the pandemic, CGI is also gaining a growing presence in everyday life through social media.
The project title plays on words of Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress), the German cultural and literary movement of the late 18th century. It refers to the double nature of CGI that, thanks to its capacity of creating both hyper-realistic and fantastic images, is able to perfectly reproduce atmospheric effects like storms which, by deceiving the viewer’s perception, manage to emotionally involve us.
The first phase of the project is the online university course “Sturm&Drang Studio” for 185 students at ETH Zurich, taught by tutors Luigi Alberto Cippini, Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen. Launched on 22 February 2021, the course “History of Art and Architecture: Exhibiting Architecture,” introduces methods of exhibition making as an architectural practice. Conceived as a collaborative platform for analysis and production, “Sturm&Drang Studio” is the result of an exchange of expertise between an educational institution such as ETH Zurich and a cultural centre such as Fondazione Prada.